Knowledge and perception of historic heritage in spanish society

Abstract

This article anticipates the conclusions of a research about the knowledge and appreciation of heritage that was conducted during the last year by the Historic Spanish Heritage Program of Caja Madrid Foundation. The goal of this research was to deepen into the meaning that society gives to cultural properties, since specialised studies do not usually take into consideration the real ideas and concerns that most of the citizens have about them. It’s therefore very important to note that this study fills a very important gap in the nowadays conception of heritage in our country. The research, based on an opinion study, had two phases: the first was mainly qualitative and focused on the society’s concept of heritage, while the second was quantitative and the result of an inquiry made in the whole country. This article exposes the conclusions of the first phase, being among them the wide concept of heritage that most citizens assume, the high valuation of it and other questions relating to its use and conservation.