EUKN - Spain - Improvement of the Exploitation of Ávila City Walls, ES

Improvement of the Exploitation of Ávila City Walls, ES

Introduction

The project intends to restore the areas surrounding Ávila City Walls and improve the exploitation for tourism.

Problem

Located in the centre of the city, the Walls of Avila are an important attraction for sightseeing, but their potential for money-making is underused.

Description

The City Walls of Avila are the main hallmark of this World Heritage City, and constitute a worldwide point of reference. The main goal of this programme is to convert them into a tourist product capable of articulating the presentation of the city within and outside the walls.

Approach

In order to improve the exploitation of Ávila City Walls, the programme promotes the restoration and recovery of the surrounding areas and the reactivation of tourism-related businesses. The three main objectives are:

Future economic sustainability.
Diversification of tourist attractions.
Integration with the urban and tourism strategy of Ávila.

Results

The results achieved can be divided in two groups:

Urban restoration. The restoration of the walkway around the top of the walls, intended to make the entire circuit safely accessible, has enabled the recovery of surrounding urban spaces and changed the patterns in which tourists visit the historic quarter, favouring the expansion of nearby business (shops, hotels, restaurants…).
Tourist exploitation. The services related to visits have been professionalized, generating employments in the fields of guidance, security, cleaning… The attention to tourists has also improved, with new spaces for audiovisual projections and exhibitions, guided tours and annual activities such as the Serenade of the Legends, the Poetic Serenade and the Medieval Fair.

Contact info

Ávila City Council
Plaza Del Mercado Chico, 7
05001 Ávila
Spain
Phone: +34 920 25 40 24
Fax: +34 920 25 29 79
Patricia González Fernández- Mellado

Project start date

28/11/2006

Links

Library Cities for a More Sustainable Future (Spanish)Ávila City Council (Spanish)

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Urban renewal

Keywords

City centre development