Territorial Protection applied to Cultural Heritage: Challenges and Opportunities. The case of the Cultural Park of Valltorta-Gassulla (Castellón, Spain)
Casar, María Emiliaa; Viñals, María Joséb and Orts, Luísc
aDepartament of Urbanism, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, bInstitute for Heritage Restoration, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, cConselleria de Educación, Investigación, Cultura y Deporte de la Generalitat Valenciana, Spain.
Abstract:
Law 16/1985, of 25 June, on the Spanish Historical Heritage establishes the figure of the Cultural Asset of National Interest and establishes various categories according the type of assets but, among them, the park or cultural landscape is not recognized.
Law 4/1998, of the Valencian Cultural Heritage creates a similar figure to the national Cultural Asset of National Interest, that is the Cultural Asset of Valencian Interest and among its categories, expressly includes the 'Cultural Park'.
With the approval of the Valencian Decree 168/2016, of 11 November, of the Consell, the first ‘Cultural Park’ has been designated. This asset is the Valltorta-Gassulla Rock Art Area that encompasses eight Castellón municipalities. In 1998, this asset was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, as part of the 'Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula'.
This work aims to identify the opportunities for the conservation and integral protection of this territorial cultural heritage, and challenges derived of the application of this Law.
The results point out that the main challenges facing the integrated management of this cultural park are: the overlapping of different sectoral regulations, and the urgent need for inter-administrative coordination.
Keywords:Cultural Park, Landscape Protection, Valencian Region.