Who can save this iconic Cadiz castle?
This historic fortress in the Andalucía city is in danger of being ruined completely
The city of Cádiz on Spain’s southern coast, a vital historical trading port that straddles the divide between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, has a wealth of history to explore. Consequently, there are also a lot of historical monuments and buildings to protect.
One of these is the Castillo de San Sebastián, the fortress which lies at the end of the walkway off the Playa de la Caleta beach and which dates back to the early 18th century, when it was used as a defensive fort and a prison. It has also been used as a set for films like Die Another Day starring Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry.
Unfortunately, it’s a building which no one wants to buy and which no local government administration is willing to put money into because of the deteriorated state of the stonework and the sheer prospect of what would be necessary to bring it up to scratch.
Right now, you can’t visit the castle. You can walk right up to the gates – a stroll that many tourists do take along the picturesque pasarela that juts out into the sea, with rock pools and sea spray on either side. But you can’t go inside.
The San Sebastián castle belongs to the State, who closed it to the public almost a decade ago. Since then, no maintenance work has been carried out on its 40,000-square-metre site.
Only now, and given the almost ruinous situation of the area, the Coastal Demarcation authorities (Costas) have been carrying out emergency works for a few weeks, at a cost of 865,000 euros.
The work focuses on the reconstruction of the section of the wall that has collapsed, with characteristics similar to the original, recovering as far as possible the ashlars that fell into the sea, the reinforcement of the foundation base and core with traditional masonry of stone and hydraulic lime mortar, the consolidation of the deteriorated elements in danger of collapse and the filling and consolidation of the back wall of the wall.
But that’s where it ends. Once this work is finished, in just a few weeks, the castle doors will close again. And Costas don’t have the authority to touch anything inside the walls, only the outside as it relates to coastal protection affairs.
In order to force the issue, Costas have said they intend to remove this fortification from the public domain and transfer it to the hands of the Cádiz City Council so that they will be responsible for maintaining it. Maybe that way, they figure, something will actually be done about it.
There is no clear idea of what it would cost to fully recover and renovate this historical monument. In recent years, assessments have been carried out in order to request funds from Europe to carry out various projects (such as creating a science museum or marine research centre on the site), with investments ranging between 25 and 30 million euros. But you only have to look at the expenditure now being made on a small section of the wall – close to a million euros – to see that any work carried out on the entire complex would cost significantly more than 30 million euros.
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