The meeting, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Sports in collaboration with the City Council of Córdoba, is dedicated in this edition to accessibility, under the motto 'World Heritage accessible to all people'.
For three days, more than one hundred experts will share the accessibility experiences that are being developed in the 48 World Heritage sites in Spain and the latest initiatives in this area will be announced, with the objective that cultural heritage management contributes actively to the welfare of the whole society. This edition also has the participation of institutions and associations highlighted in accessibility issues.
"We must strengthen the social dimension of heritage as an element of integration and social inclusion," said Elisa de Cabo, deputy director of Historical Heritage Protection, at the beginning of the meeting. "The inclusion of a good in the UNESCO World Heritage List goes beyond international recognition. It implies responsibilities and challenges, including that our World Heritage sites are accessible to all people. That is also one of the objectives established in the 2030 agenda, which advocates safe, sustainable and inclusive cities and sites. "
José María Bellido, mayor of Córdoba, also participated in the inauguration; Laura Ruiz, Councilor of Casco Histórico; Cristina Casanueva, territorial delegate of Culture and Development; and Javier Rosón, coordinator of the Arab House in Córdoba.
After the initial presentation, the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (CERMI) has opened the meeting with a framework paper on accessibility in cultural heritage. Among other proposals, the conference will put on the table examples of good practices applied in the World Heritage in Spain, as those carried out in the Santiago's road, at Mediterranean Arc rock art, the Mudejar architecture of Aragon, he Garajonay National Park and the archaeological site of Mérida.
On November 7, the attendees of the meeting will participate in a tour of the historic center of Cordoba in the conditions of a person with accessibility needs. The next day, they will visit the mosque-cathedral, the Alcazar baths and the center of the Andalusian city to learn about the accessibility solutions offered in each space.
Spain, third country with the highest number of World Heritage goods
Spain has 48 cultural assets inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List and is the country with the greatest presence after China and Italy. Among these places is the city of Córdoba, linked to World Heritage since 1984, when the mosque was inscribed on the prestigious Unesco List.
Ten years later, in 1994, the declaration was extended to the historic center of the city. Recently, at the meeting of the Unesco World Heritage Committee held in Bahrain in 2018, the archaeological site of the Caliphate city of Medina Azahara also received this recognition.