• Virtual recreation of the reconstruction of the Sorolla Monument on El Cabanyal Beach
- The City Council raises a query about the feasibility of the proposed locations and the administrative requirements that would be needed for each one, prior to the drafting of the reconstruction project and the application for occupation of the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain
- The technical staff of the Historical Heritage Service advocates for the reconstruction of the original monument in its original location, in the section of Cabanyal Beach between the former Termas Victoria and the Asylum of Our Lady of Carmen, on the sand and facing the sea
- The reconstruction will be carried out through anastilosis, given the large number of original pieces that are preserved from the old Sorolla Monument, as well as its historical, heritage, and sentimental value
- With this initiative, “the municipal government seeks to fulfill Sorolla’s will, settle a historical debt with the renowned Valencian artist, and revitalize the cultural and emotional connection between the city of Valencia and its coastline, returning an emblematic element of its identity to El Cabanyal-Canyamelar,” explained the mayor, María José Catalá
The City of Valencia has presented this Friday to the Coastal Demarcation and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition the necessary documentation to carry out the project of reconstructing the old Sorolla Monument on Cabanyal Beach. The City Council has raised a query about the feasibility of the three proposed locations and the administrative requirements that would be needed for each of them, prior to the drafting of the reconstruction project and the application for concession for the occupation of the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain, regulated in articles 85 and following of the General Coastal Regulation.
In this way, Valencia takes a further step towards the recovery of this sculptural ensemble of notable historical, heritage, and sentimental significance for the city, as well as in fulfilling the will expressed by the artist himself a few years before his death: to be honored by the sea.
“From the municipal government, we want to recover an asset with a high symbolic and identity value, and a prominent part of the collective memory of all Valencians, as well as revitalize the cultural and emotional connection between the city of Valencia and its coastline, returning an emblematic element of its identity to the neighborhood of El Cabanyal-Canyamelar,” stated the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá. “An action that seeks the heritage restoration of this landmark in its original location, on Cabanyal Beach, and which undoubtedly will contribute to beautify and improve the quality of this iconic natural and urban enclave. And all this while rigorously respecting the coastal environment, harmonizing its necessary and obligatory protection with the preservation of our historical heritage, of which the old Sorolla Monument is a clear example,” emphasized the mayor.
A widely shared social and historical aspiration
“With this initiative, we are also responding to a social and historical aspiration, widely agreed upon and shared by Sorolla’s descendants and by numerous entities and personalities from the world of art, culture, and architecture,” pointed out María José Catalá, who emphasized that “unlike previous times, we now know the exact number of original pieces that are preserved from the old Sorolla Monument, which total 119, and their origin and authenticity have been accredited, after the inventory and cataloging carried out by the architect Javier Hidalgo Mora commissioned by the City Council.” This cataloging allows for the reconstruction of the monumental complex through the technique called anastilosis, which consists of reconstructing an ancient monument by reuniting its parts or fragments.
As the mayor explained, the municipal technical reports indicate the ideal location to place the monument, once reconstructed, is the same space, or as close as possible to it, where it was located for almost 25 years. Specifically, the Historical and Artistic Heritage Service proposes three possible locations for the recovery of the sculptural ensemble, all within the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain and close to the area where the monument was located before its destruction by the flood of 1957, both on the sand and on the promenade.
Given that the concession process and the content of the basic project needed to obtain authorization may vary depending on the selected exact location and that, depending on that location, it may be necessary to subject the project to prior urban or environmental procedures, to the granting of some concession or permit, and/or to approval by a specific body, it has been considered necessary to consult with the Ministry for the Ecological Transition.
After studying the advantages and disadvantages of each of the alternatives from different perspectives (historical, cultural, heritage, territorial and landscape, urban, constructive, and regulatory), the technical staff of the Historical and Artistic Heritage Service advocates for the reconstruction of the original monument in its original location, in the section of Cabanyal Beach between the former Termas Victoria and the Asylum of Our Lady of Carmen, on the sand and facing the Mediterranean Sea, as the history of the monument and the artistic production of Sorolla are intimately linked to it, and it loses its meaning outside the place where it was designed and built.
This is alternative 1 proposed by the Historical Heritage Service, in whose report it is noted that the reconstruction of the old Sorolla Monument on the sand would have no significant effects on the environment or coastal dynamics, as it is a completely permeable sculptural ensemble and is intended to be installed on an urban beach highly transformed from its natural state, with infrastructures such as the promenade and various hospitality establishments, and therefore equipped with all necessary services.
Additionally, the significant increase in the width of Cabanyal Beach in recent decades favors a recovery “with guarantees and safety,” as emphasized in the report. The reconstruction of the original monument in the proposed location would be approximately 40 meters further from the coastline than in its origins, so it would not pose any alteration to the current conditions of the beach. Therefore, this is the preferred option for the City Council as it is, “from a cultural, historical, and heritage perspective, the most suitable, being the most faithful and respectful to the will of the ‘master of light’.”
Three options
The recovery of the sculptural ensemble on the sand would not involve modifying the boundary of the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain (DPMT) and, therefore, would not have any significant influence on it. In fact, it would have the same effect as if it were built anywhere else in the DPMT, as the type of soil is exactly the same on the sand and on the promenade, as justified in the preliminary project included in the documentation. Only a few meters of the volleyball courts at that point, managed by the City Council, would need to be moved.
Alternative 2 proposes the recovery of the monument on a circular protrusion of the promenade, near its original location. From a heritage perspective, this location would not be as ideal as that of alternative 1, as it is not on the same sand and is not independent from the promenade. However, due to its proximity to the original location, it could also be considered a valid option. Nevertheless, the protrusion would need to be redesigned to adjust its surface to the size of the sculptural ensemble, as well as to adapt the shoreline of the sea to the monument’s plan.
Although this adjustment is practically insignificant compared to the entirety of the promenade and the beach (about 50 square meters), it would have a negative impact on the DPMT. It would also require reordering the promenade in that area to continue facilitating pedestrian circulation, so it would likely require a specific modification of the General Urban Development Plan.
Finally, alternative 3 considers the reconstruction of the old Sorolla Monument on the esplanade at the height of the Malvarrosa Hospital. As stated in the technical report, this location would be the least suitable from a historical, cultural, and heritage perspective, as it would be further from the original location of the original monument. On the contrary, the execution of the sculptural ensemble would not have a significant negative impact on the environment or the DPMT, where there are already other similar constructions, and also, being located on the promenade, on an unused esplanade, it would not require any modifications or reordering, and therefore would not require any urban planning process such as a modification of the General Urban Development Plan. From a constructive point of view, the impact would be the same in all three alternatives, as the geology and geotechnics (loose and very loose sands) are common throughout the area.