El Poble Nou de Benitatxell takes an international step in the safeguarding of its ethnographic patrimony. The Council, in collaboration with the technology company Innoarea Projects, has submitted the candidacy of the project ‘Les Pesqueres de Cingle: Immersive recreation of extreme coastal heritage’ to the prestigious European Heritage Europa Nostra Awards, the most important awards on the continent in the field of cultural and natural heritage.
The initiative aspires to European recognition in the Cultural Landscape category for its pioneering methodological model of “Conservation & Adaptive Reuse”. As it is a natural environment of extreme verticality and physical inaccessibility (with cliffs of more than 100 meters) and has the maximum environmental protection (SCI, SPA and Marine Reserve), virtual recreation with aerial photogrammetry using drones and hyperrealistic 3D modeling has established itself as a zero-environmental impact solution, capable of rescuing the memory of the encesers and their risky ancestral fishing techniques from extinction.
Les Pesqueres, within the reach of all citizens
Beyond the milestone of this international projection, the main novelty for citizens is that the project is already fully operational and accessible to the public. From now on, anyone can enter the dizzying Pesqueres de La Taula, La Branca and El Moraig from anywhere in the world through the www.pesqueres360.elpoblenoudebenitatxell.com website. This multi-device application is fully accessible and allows the route to be made by touch control or gyroscope on mobiles, tablets or computers.
In addition, to enjoy a 100% immersive experience, the municipality will soon have six autonomous immersive devices (Meta Quest 3S virtual reality glasses) for residents and visitors to experience the descent down the cliffs by the hand of a local fisherman narrator.
Likewise, to connect the physical space with the digital environment, steel lecterns have been installed integrated into the landscape of the coastal viewpoints (La Taula, La Branca and Moraig) and in the urban area. These are supports that include large-format QR codes to access the web-app in situ, as well as adapted signage with transcription in Braille. The virtual tour is available in four languages (Valencian, Spanish, English and French) and includes professional voice-overs and information hotspots to democratize this legacy to people of any age or mobility.
A replicable model for Europe
The candidacy for the Europa Nostra awards highlights not only the ethnographic value of preserving an ancestral practice developed in high-risk conditions, but also its potential for transferability to other coastal municipalities in the Mediterranean and the European Union that face the loss of heritage assets in enclaves that are difficult to access.
«The cingle fisheries are one of the most authentic expressions of our identity and a unique testimony of resilience in the Mediterranean. With the submission to the Europa Nostra awards we not only seek to project internationally the memory of the encesers and their families, but also to demonstrate how technology can be put at the service of conservation without altering our protected coastline. The most satisfying thing is that this work is no longer just an idea, but a living reality within the reach of all our neighbours and visitors,» said the Councillor of Patrimony, Víctor Bisquert.
This action has involved an investment financed 100% by the European Union through the NextGenerationEU funds, channelled within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain within the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan (PSTD) of El Poble Nou de Benitatxell.
