Guardamar’s Department of Culture have said that they will open the historic Rábita Califal Islamic settlement on two days a week for summer visitors. The announcement was made by Pilar Gay, the Guardamar Councillor for Culture, at a press briefing on Saturday morning.
She said that the town is keen to promote the tenth century site as a tourist attraction, which will be greatly enhanced with the addition of the new Visitors Centre, which should itself be ready by the middle of 2018.
This will be the first time that the municipality will open the site on a regular basis although as the councillor explained visits can currently be taken on the Tourist Train excursion “The Path of History.” The revised objective, however, is to offer a more complete excursion.
The councillor also announced that the department will also be offering an activity called “the Night of astrology,” at which astronomers will explain to visitors just why the Rábita Califal site was chosen to build houses around the dunes which were based on the position of the stars. The activity will include various activities for children and for seniors and will take place during the month of August, although the specifics are still to be determined.
According to the municipal tourist website Guardamar’s historic Phoenician city, La Fonteta, dating from the 8th to the 6th centuries BC, cannot be opened for the time being as there are outstanding consolidation works that are still to be carried. Consequently, some of the structures are still in danger of collapse and must be shored up before visitors can be allowed into the grounds.
In order to guarantee its protection, the Ministry of Culture has asked the Generalitat for 866,125 euros, which will allow the conservation work to be carried out, as well as a further 309.860 euros for the construction of the Visitors Centre.
According to the director general of Culture and Heritage, Carmen Amoraga, the dune recovery project will start later this year with the work on the Visitors Centre, which will last three months, scheduled for the first quarter of 2018.
