COMUNICATION

THE MONASTERY OF YUSTE, SPAIN’S NEW CANDIDACY FOR THE EUROPEAN HERITAGE LABEL

The General Director of Libraries, Archives and Cultural Heritage, Francisco Pérez Urbán, participated in the 90th meeting of the Council of Historical Heritage in Jaén, which ratified the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste as a candidate for the European Heritage Label, along with the Monastery of Santa María la Real de Aguilar de Campoo, in Palencia. Spain will submit both candidacies for the European Label in March 2023. (05/04/2022)

This has been announced by the General Director of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts of the Spanish Government, Isaac Sastre, at the end of the first session of the Historical Heritage Council convened by the Ministry of Culture and Sport, which counted with the participation of the Directorates-General for Cultural Heritage of the different Autonomous Communities.

With these two new candidacies, Spain intends to expand its network of enclaves recognised with the European Cultural Heritage Label, which the Archive of the Crown of Aragon and the Student Residence of Madrid already have.

The Monastery of Yuste’s candidacy aims to highlight the unique elements of the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste, as a symbolic enclave of memory and European heritage, a space for reflection, debate and knowledge generation on European issues, that promotes universal values linked to European construction and integration, as well as being an driver for the social, cultural and economic revitalisation of the rural environment where it is located.

In the last 30 years the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation has launched projects in this enclave, which together with the historical and symbolic character of the monument and the management of National Heritage, make it an accessible centre, which aims to continue to be strengthened as a European reference centre with the actions of this candidacy.

The membership of the European Heritage Label would be an opportunity to continue working on issues such as the conservation and enhancement of heritage, cultural tourism, intercultural dialogue, the promotion of European values and social cohesion.

The candidacy of the Monastery of Yuste was defended on 25 March by the director of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno, and by the delegate of National Heritage in Yuste, Elvira Prado Alegre.

 EUROPEAN HERITAGE LABEL

The European Heritage Label is a European Commission programme which aims to promote cultural sites or events with special significance and relevance for the development of European culture and history, or for the establishment of the European Union as an institution.

The evaluation of the candidacy of the Almadén Mining Park (Ciudad Real), which is scheduled to be evaluated in Brussels in June, is currently under way.

 MONASTERY OF YUSTE

The Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste, a monument declared a Cultural Interest Asset, is located in the region of La Vera, and is known as the last residence of Emperor Charles V.

Nowadays, it is considered a place of reference and transnational identity due to its heritage and symbolic value, which includes part of the memory of Europe, as well as for its intangible heritage of high value and impact.