La recuperación de los monumentos históricos para acrecentar el turismo

Abstract

From the 18th century onwards, the travellers who had been educated in the atmosphere of the Age of Enlightenment began to move to distant countries to admire the historical monuments that were still preserved there. In the first third of the 19th century, Spain?s rich and varied historical monumental heritage was, to a large extent, disappearing due to the sale of Church lands. The liberal Government of Queen M.ª Cristina of Naples was alerted, and surely due to the influence of the exiles that had been working in the French administration (for example Javier of Burgos, López Ballasteros), important rules for the classification and the preservation of historical goods and property were soon dictated.Thus the Historical and Artistic Monument Committees were constituted, one in every province under the direction of the Assistant representative of the Ministry of Public Works and Buildings (Fomento). We gather in a summarized way the appearance and development of these Committees until the time of constitutional Spain with its regional.