Unesco Visits Euskal Herria

This is an interesting note regarding the Unesco's visit to Euskal Herria to asses if the caves of Santimamiñe and Ekain deserve to be considered as part of humankind's cultural heritage.

Here you have the note by EITb:

Assessment

Unesco visits Basque Palaeolithic caves of Santimamiñe and Ekain

09/03/2007

An expert will assess the caves to study if they are included in the World Heritage List. The only site in the Basque Country in the list nowadays is the Hanging Bridge of Bizkaia.

An expert from the Unesco will visit the Basque caves of Santimamiñe (in Kortezubi, Bizkaia) and Ekain (in Deba, Gipuzkoa) to assess the "Palaeolithic Cave Art of the Cantabrian coast" candidature, which could be included in the World Heritage List.

Anyway, the World Heritage Committee of the Unesco won't make a decision on the award until June or July 2008.

The candidature is formed by several caves, those two in the Basque Country, as well as Peña de Candamo, Tito Bustillo and El Pindal in Asturias; and Chufin, Hornos de la Peña, El castillo, La Pasiega, Las Monedas, El Pendo, La Garma and Covalanas in Cantabria.

On January 31, day the Unesco accepted the candidature, the general director of the Culture Department of the Government of Cantabria, Justo Barreda, explained in the name of the whole candidacy that the initiative "is necessary as it helps to place Altamira within its context," as this cave is already included within the World Heritage List.

The text to back the petition defends that "Palaeolithic cave art is one of the most relevant cultural expressions of the history of Humanity" as it is "the first artistic expression of the human species," giving it "a universal value and meaning tightly linked with the evolution of culture and society."

These values, already recognised since 1985 for the cave of Altamira, "are applicable to other groups of cave art located in the same phisiographic region," among them the two Basque caves.

Hanging Bridge of Bizkaia, only precedent

Up to this date, the Hanging Bridge of Bizkaia (which links the towns of Portugalete and Getxo) is the only Basque good included in the World Heritage List.

Anyway, the Way of Saint James as a whole is in the list, and part of that way runs through Iparralde (Basque provinces within the French State), Navarre, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia.

The real question here is, what took so long?

~ ~ ~