Madrid seeks UNESCO honour
Thursday, July 10, 2014 @ 8:56 AM
TWO of Madrid's top tourist attractions are vying to become UNESCO heritage sites.
The Retiro Park and El Prado art gallery fall within a 203-hectare area which both the city council and the regional government hopes will gain this prestigious title, putting Madrid firmly on the global visitors' map.
According to authorities in the capital, the area in question stretches across the massive green park with its boating lake and artificial beach, encompassing the Puerta de Alcalá – Madrid's answer to the Arc de Triomphe – the Cibeles palace, Los Jerónimos church, the botanical gardens, the stock market headquarters, the Buen Retiro mansion, the official academy of the Spanish language, the El Prado art museum and its adjoining boulevard, the Paseo del Prado, and 15 other gardens and monuments.
Details of the UNESCO application have been passed to Spain's National Heritage Council, which has one year to approve or decline it before passing it onto the United Nations culture and conservation department.
Only about 1,000 sites worldwide are UNESCO heritage locations, making this one of the planet's top honours and a tourist magnet by default.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com