Download ebook FREE - Allemandi

Sant Sebastià, where they were coming from or the characteristics
of their visit. The only data available were obtained from the visitors’
book in the watchtower. In this book the majority of visitors
highlighted the beautiful views of the landscape.
The Spatial Arrangement of the Archaeological Site
The first aspect taken into account while planning the space was the
issue of accessibility. A decision had to be made as to whether the
site should be closed off, with only limited access permitted during
a specific timetable, or left open so it could be accessed for free and
at any time. Finally, the latter was decided on. Currently, the site is
accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. There is no physical
barrier impeding access to the site. What led to this decision? Firstly,
the desire to integrate the archaeological remains with the wider set of
cultural assets at the site. We understood that what makes this place
attractive is the set of elements integrated into the landscape of the
Costa Brava rather than one specific element alone. The opinions
left by visitors in the visitors’ book mentioned above were fundamental
in understanding this. Secondly, we took into account the
profile of potential visitors. Considering the fact that we were dealing
with a place of great symbolic value to the local population we
could not restrict access for fear of turning the site into a marginal
place. Let us remember the mountain has no significant urban centre
and therefore if it were not valued it would be difficult for the
city council to justify the expenses associated with maintenance and
conservation of the site. With regard to tourism, it was important to
take into account that we were dealing with visitors attracted to the
area by the beaches and climate. In this case, cultural heritage plays
only a secondary or complementary role. Therefore, if access had
been limited it is quite possible that the site would have been open
when tourists were at the beach and closed when they were free to
visit it. As a result, the site would have been visited less and consequently
the influence of cultural heritage in the tourism sector of the
area would have been limited even more. Thirdly, limiting access to
the site to determined hours would have generated significant management
costs, for example for contracting personnel, which would
have far outweighed the money taken in from the sale of tickets.
Remember, we are not dealing with an archaeological site of world
reference attracting the attention of thousands of people. To the contrary,
the site is not well known and not the least bit monumental.
66