The stone walls of Lanzarote, protected by Unesco
The Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity belonging to Unesco decided, on November 28, to include in its Representative List the art of building dry stone walls.
This distinction gives this art an international awareness of protection as a patrimonial tradition. The technique is characteristic of the rural areas of France, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Spain.
In Spain, at least nine autonomous communities have in their fields examples of this art: Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia and Valencia. In Lanzarote, the stone walls of La Geria would fall within the considerations established by Unesco for its protection. Also the walls that make of boundaries that come from old and that separate the lands in many areas of the island
From Unesco, the expertise with which the rural inhabitants throughout history have been able to stack the stones without other material resources more than, occasionally, dry land or mud has been put in value. They emphasize that these structures do not harm the environment and consider them “an example of a balanced relationship between human beings and nature, in addition to serving in the prevention of natural disasters and contributing to the fight against erosion, desertification, to improve biodiversity and create appropriate microclimatic conditions for agriculture “.
To walk through the landscapes of the island (or of the countries named by Unesco) and see some of these hieratic walls is to know that the tradition that raised them is in the list of protected intangible heritage.
