Alfonso Torres and Yolanda Muñoz present their projects, the prelude to the transformation from the Christmas lighthouse to the fishing port
The countdown begins for the transformation of the Alfonso XII Dock, from the old Regatta Club to the Arqua, by the Port Authority, with the building of bars and restaurants that the owner of Trips projects as a great engine and reference. The hospitality entrepreneur and promoter Alfonso Torres and the president of the Port Authority, Yolanda Muñoz, last night kicked off this important project with their public presentation. The building adaptation works will begin after the Christmas holidays so that it can open its doors next August. In parallel, the first works will be carried out on the Pier to eliminate barriers and provide it with shade and new urban furniture.
The event, which was attended by a small number of representatives of the political and business life of the municipality, was held in the Pier itself, next to the commercial building. Both works will give way, gradually during the new year, to the reforms in the access to the cruise terminal and in the surroundings of the Casa del Mar, Maritime Captaincy, the old headquarters of Foreign Health and the facilities of the social club of port workers. Both projects have already been written, although they do not yet have a start date.
The port agency will then undertake the radical change in the area of the fish market and its docks, as well as the modernization of its workshop building. There are also three million to modernize its main headquarters in Plaza Héroes de Cavite. The so-called Plaza Mayor project has a total budget of 28 million euros to be executed in two years.
The Cartagenas del Mundo square will be equipped with movable pergolas, with vegetation and solar panels on top
Recreation area
The conversion of the esplanade of the Muelle de Alfonso XII into the most recreational area of the city will be reinforced in the short term with a second leisure and gastronomy project. It will be signed by Licor 43 and by the chef Pablo González-Conejero, who has two Michelin stars. It will be located in the old Chamber of Commerce. There they plan to set up an events and celebrations hall and a restaurant, although this project still lacks a start date. To all these reforms will be added those planned in El Espalmador and Muelle del Carbón, with an investment of 25.4 million euros.
In the Plaza Mayor project of the Port Authority, a large part of the proposal of the winning plan of the ideas competition, convened two years ago, led by the architect José Manuel Chacón, is maintained. They include the installation of intelligent lighting, which will regulate the intensity of the light automatically, the creation of sports and exhibition areas, the construction of a commercial gallery at the entrance of the cruise ship dock and the placement of movable pergolas with planters and plates solar on the roofs.
Virtual recreation of how the Plaza Héroes de Cavite and the esplanades of the Muelle de Alfonso XII will be, panoramic views. /
The main objective is to integrate the port area with the city and, for this, another novelty is the elimination of the asphalt that separates Héroes de Cavite and Escala Real. It will be replaced by a tile similar to the one already in both squares, so that there is a wide uniform area.
The boat dock will be equipped with two large areas for the celebration of cultural and sporting events. One will be between the Plaza de Héroes de Cavite and the Muelle, whose old streetlights will disappear to create an open space with movable flowerpots. The other large area will be the ‘Cartagenas del mundo’ square, a space located between the bar building and the old chamber headquarters. It will have mobile pergolas with vegetation and solar panels in the upper part. The Plaza Héroes de Cavite will also undergo an important change: the curbs will disappear to give uniformity to that space, which will have benches and more vegetation.
For his part, with an investment of four million euros, businessman Alfonso Torres, with the support of Estrella de Levante, intends to launch a restaurant serving local and regional cuisine in the commercial building. It will be run, according to the businessman, by a chef whose professional career has been linked to a business with three Michelin stars and whose name he will reveal in a month.
The commercial property will have a space designed to welcome tourists who arrive on cruise ships
Ice cream parlor and brewery
In the lower part of the building there will be a brewery, with the Estrella de Levante seal, an ice cream parlor and another more informal restaurant. In another of the premises there will be a multipurpose room for celebrations and events. The idea is that it also serves as a disco and concert hall. A space will be added to receive cruise ship tourists. The businessman wants the building to be “a gastronomic, cultural and leisure reference for the entire Region. You will have the best professionals.
The technical project has already passed the supervision of the Culture technicians of the Autonomous Community, who have verified its adaptation to what the heritage laws dictate due to its proximity to the Wall of Carlos III, which is an asset of cultural interest (BIC) . In this process, the second gastronomic bet in the area follows, the one that Licor 43 flags.
The presentation ceremony, which ended with the performance of the Renacer troupe, was attended by the Minister of the Presidency, Tourism and Sports, Marcos Ortuño, who highlighted the “opening of Cartagena to the sea and history.” The mayor, Noelia Arroyo, confined to her home after testing positive for Covid, intervened through a video. He assured that with the Plaza Mayor project “we will definitely achieve that integration of port and city that Cartagena has been pursuing for so many years.”
Muñoz: “In this way we advance towards a port of the XXI century”
The president of the Cartagena Port Authority, Yolanda Muñoz, highlighted in the presentation that the project to transform the seafront “is moving towards a port of the 21st century”, always thinking, he added, of society as a “key piece” of the port-city integration actions. He also highlighted the innovative and sustainable nature of the initiative, “for an attractive space for Cartagena, for tourists and for brave entrepreneurs such as Alfonso Torres, who has managed to start a project that will generate employment, wealth and opportunities.”
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