The traffic light for Cantabria’s historical heritage remains red according to the 2024 balance sheet of the Hispania Nostra association, whose conservation lists are one of the most independent references when evaluating the situation in a territory. In 2024, four vestiges of the Cantabrian past were added to the Red List of assets in danger of disappearing, while the Green List, of recovered assets, only included one. The result for the year, therefore, has been negative.
Hispania Nostra joined its Red List in 2024 the Romano mill, in Galizano; the portal of the old Valdecilla Health House, in Maliaño; the hermitage of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in Liendo; and the El Ronzón flour mill, in Bezana.
In the case of the Romano mill, it is a structure that dates back to the 18th century and fell into decay seven decades ago. 70% of its property is public and 30% is private on ancestral milling rights. Currently, “it is in ruins and very deteriorated,” according to Hispania Nostra.
The portal of the old Valdecilla Health House is dismantled and in a state of abandonment in Maliaño. It is a landmark of civil heritage at risk of disappearance and has a high symbolic value, since it reflects the golden age of what is now the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, in Santander.
Furthermore, in Liendo, the neighbors have started a crowdfunding campaign in order to carry out, through their own means, the recovery of the 18th century hermitage of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and turn it into a cultural and neighborhood center of the valley. .
Finally, the El Ronzón flour mill, a 15th century heritage asset located in the municipality of Santa Cruz de Bezana, was included in the Red List of Heritage due to its situation of “complete abandonment.” Currently, “it is in an advanced process of deterioration that could lead to its definitive disappearance,” according to the conservation association.
Green List
The old Priestman crane steamer had been literally rotting in Raos for years. In 2022, this vestige of the industrial heritage of the Port of Santander, linked to the explosion of the Cabo Machichaco steamship, was included in the Red List. Priestman No. 3, which is its name, was abandoned to its fate and rescued from the water in 1995, remaining installed on the main head of the Raos breakwater, only to fall into abandonment again.
In May 2024, the Cantabria Industrial Heritage Network has promoted its recovery and, with the collaboration of the Port Authority, Government of Cantabria and the Villaescusa City Council, the Priestman crane has been moved to La Concha, where it has been placed on a base that emulates the barge where it was originally located. For this reason, it has deserved to be removed from the Red List and entered as the only novelty of the year in the Green List of recovered heritage of Cantabria.
Source: www.eldiario.es
