The coastal battery of San Leandro, next to the La Curra dock in Cartagena, and owned by the municipality, is closer to its full recovery. The tendering phase of this project, included in the Tourism Sustainability Plans in Destinations, which obtained a total funding of more than 4 million euros, with projects to improve tourist infrastructures, has begun.
This 18th century bastion, listed as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), will be the first public battery located in the vicinity of Cala Cortina to be rehabilitated and adapted for the use and enjoyment of residents and tourists, and as a piece to learn about the rest of the defensive system of Cartagena.
The tender for this work, valued at more than one million euros, provides for the recovery of the defensive building of the former military installation “to turn it into an interpretation centre of the defensive system that make up the batteries that define the coast of Cartagena”, according to the mayoress, Noelia Arroyo.
The San Leandro Battery is a municipal-owned facility, currently in disuse, with a total surface area of 5,675 square metres, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest. The battery has been exposed to the action, not only of atmospheric agents, but also to looting and plundering.
Inside and outside
The Cartagena City Council intends to renovate both the exterior by means of landscaping works, as well as the interior, in a respectful manner and in accordance with the regulations and legislation in force regarding interventions on protected buildings.
The rehabilitation project of this building has been carried out by the architect José Manuel Chacón, who made a detailed study of the battery, proposing the basic lines of the intervention valued at a total of 1,050,000 euros, of which 540,000 are destined to the building, 360,000 will be destined to the landscaping and 150,000 will be used in the development of digital content to explain the defensive system in the future interpretation centre.
The aim is to establish in this facility an interpretation centre for the batteries of the 19th century, in transition to the 20th century, for which it is considered of vital importance that both the architectural rehabilitation and the proposed use and possible tourist exploitation are based on the maximum knowledge of the functioning of these installations that mark the coast of Cartagena.
Similarly, the project at the mouth of Cabo de Palos, also within the Tourism Sustainability Plan, has just been put out to tender. These have a budget of 316,348 euros and aim to make this area an important promenade and recreation area, after it had been relegated over time as a residual space for car parks.
In this way it will be recovered and integrated with the rest of the port environment, making it compatible with fishing use, and allowing it to be fully incorporated into the tourist and cultural routes.
Ecological promenade between Playa Honda and the Caravaning area
Recently, the Local Government Board approved the project to create an ecological pedestrian walkway linking Playa Honda with the Villas Caravaning campsite, which will be sent out to tender shortly.
The project has a tender base budget of 236,690.52 €, including 21% VAT, and a completion time of 3 months. The action is included in the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Tourism of Cartagena 2022-2025.
The Cartagena Tourism Sustainability Plan has a budget of 4.1 million euros and “will give a boost to the repositioning of Cartagena as a year-round destination. With these projects we reinforce our brand image, because we are a quality destination, with great natural and heritage wealth,” said the mayoress.
