The mayor of Arrecife, Astrid Pérez, revealed this Friday at a press conference the results of a report commissioned to Gesplan, in which she assures that "it reveals that none of the three Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC) initiated by the Cabildo in the capital -Hotel Oriental, Tamaragua building and the market-, have outstanding values to obtain the distinction in the Monument category".
"This report demonstrates what we have been denouncing for months, a time in which the island Corporation has only put obstacles in the progress of the capital, hiding behind the false argument of defending heritage", says the mayor, Astrid Pérez.
The mayor of Arrecife has detailed to the media each of the three properties, starting with the Hotel Oriental, a plot in which it should be remembered that there was a project for a remodeling and recovery of that emblematic space of the capital, and that Pérez points out "could not be done after the refusal of the Cabildo and the subsequent initiation as BIC".
From the City Council they point out that "the Gesplan report clarifies that the Hotel Oriental does not present relevant historical values to be a BIC, and also points out that in the historical aspects of the property it is not justified or argued which are outstanding, so it lacks elements to be considered a BIC”.
Likewise, the report carried out by the graduate in Art History, Juan Carlos Padrón Valido, points out that the Hotel Oriental “has undergone alterations with respect to the original property, and a BIC requires protection of a property that is without alterations”, since according to said report, “otherwise a not very rigorous version of it would be being protected”.
In summary, it is insisted that the property has values to protect, “but without being outstanding and therefore insufficient for the determination of its initiation as an Asset of Cultural Interest in the Monument category”.
"A devastating report also for the initiation of the market and Tamaragua"
Regarding the initiation as BIC of the Tamaragua building, located at Calle León y Castillo number 35, the report, according to the mayor, explains that “there is no exceptionality in any of its elements”, and that they are even “common to other buildings in the historic center of Arrecife”.
In addition, as happened with the Hotel Oriental, the report assures that it does not present “relevant historical values”, nor “outstanding” to be considered a BIC. Likewise, regarding the modifications that the property has undergone, the report describes them as “unsuccessful of depth”, and that “they have modified the original morphology with the consequent substantial loss of heritage value”.
Regarding the market, the Gesplan report specifies point by point why it does not meet the conditions to be a BIC, based on the fact that the building has undergone “modifications in its original morphology”, and emphasizing that despite the fact that the social value of the property is “important and indisputable”, it is “insufficient for its declaration as BIC”.
On the other hand, "it also questions that the reversibility of the interventions is doubtful, and that there is no exceptionality in any of the architectural or heritage values, and in no case are they outstanding".
The mayor adds that "the Gesplan report concludes practically the same in the three properties of the capital, emphasizing that none presents exceptionality or singularity in its composition of facade or type of plan, and that the values they present are common to other properties in the historic center of Arrecife and do not stand out from them, an essential requirement for its declaration as an Asset of Cultural Interest”.
The Arrecife City Council will present, after this report carried out by Gesplan, the relevant allegations to the file of initiation of BIC of the three properties of the capital.
“Here there are no politicians giving their opinion, but reports from specialists that corroborate what we said from the beginning, that there was no place to declare BIC to the three properties. We have to preserve and conserve our heritage, but in accordance with the progress and improvement of the city and the economic activity of the municipality”, concludes the mayor, Astrid Pérez.