ERRE to lead the restoration project for the Wall of Santa Bárbara Castle in Alicante

Alicante City Council and the Hortensia Herrero Foundation have signed an agreement to carry out the restoration and rehabilitation works on the Western Wall of Santa Bárbara Castle, which dates from the 11th and 13th centuries and extends for 470 linear meters.

At ERRE, we will have the opportunity to lead the architectural intervention on one of Alicante’s most significant heritage assets. The project, which is expected to take approximately one year to complete, will address the wall with the utmost respect for its historic configuration, focusing both on the material conservation of its masonry and on its structural consolidation.

The intervention will focus mainly on two areas: cleaning and repairing the walls, and consolidating the fortification. The works will include, among other measures, the removal of inappropriate elements, repairs to the masonry, and structural reinforcement wherever required.

Once the restoration is complete, the project will also enhance the wall through monumental lighting and the interpretation of the route, using information panels and multimedia content to provide a deeper understanding of the monument’s history.

The aim is for the intervention not only to preserve the wall, but also to restore its relationship with the city and make its historical, architectural, and landscape value more accessible to those who once again walk along it.

For ERRE, the project represents another opportunity to work with heritage from a contemporary perspective, understanding restoration as a tool for preserving authenticity while also recovering spaces that can once again become part of the life of the city.

About the wall

Santa Bárbara Castle is Alicante’s most prominent architectural, heritage, and landscape landmark. Located at the summit of Mount Benacantil, 166 meters above sea level, it is one of the largest medieval fortresses in Spain and receives approximately one million visitors each year.

The Western Wall descends along the western slope of the mountain and consists of two distinct sections corresponding to different phases of its construction: the upper section, of Arab origin, dates back to the 11th century and formed part of the city’s first walled enclosure; the lower section, which crosses the Ereta path by means of a footbridge before reaching a small bastion, dates from the Christian period in the 13th century.

Historically, the wall served a strictly strategic and defensive purpose, protecting the urban settlement and overlooking Alicante Bay. Because of its position on a steep area of the mountain, this section of wall is one of the few remains to have survived the city’s later urban expansion, standing as an architectural record of the earliest phases of occupation of Santa Bárbara Castle.

Its restoration will preserve this legacy while also bringing back into Alicante’s urban experience a historic route with a privileged relationship between Santa Bárbara Castle, Mount Benacantil, the city, and the Mediterranean.