Towards a joint territorial reading of the representative lists of UNESCO.

Proposal of Spanish cases that combine material and immaterial values

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been an often confusing rapprochement between tangible and intangible heritage. The shift of the gravitational axis from the object to the subject and, consequently, the consideration of heritage as the value assigned to certain elements, either institutionally or in an identity way, is making us rethink the meaning and mission of the most prestigious international heritage recognitions. This article starts from the premise that, in the allocation of this patrimonial value, materiality can be more or less important (more in immovable heritage, less or null in intangible), but spatiality, on the other hand, is always a basic component. Value and territory are therefore two key references that require a simultaneous and correlated understanding that goes beyond classical heritage taxonomies. Thus, here we reflect on the major international programs of representative heritage recognition (the World Heritage List and the Intangible Cultural Heritage lists) and on the strategies that should guide, based on the new conceptual framework, the protection and activation of heritage. As a main conclusion, and after proposing a Spanish list of assets susceptible of a joint conceptions in the representative heritage lists of Unesco, it is pointed the need to establish programs and lists of convergent properties, permeable to territorial development policies and more attentive, not only to environmental aspects, undoubtedly essential, but also to the social bases that sustain the very authenticity of heritage.