Online lecture – Landscape and heritage, the siege of the Alhambra for speculation and tourism

Join us on the third session of the “Critical heritage studies at Arqus: concepts, approaches and findings” online guest lecture series, titled “Landscape and heritage, the siege of the Alhambra for speculation and tourism”, with Juan Manuel Barrios (University of Granada). The online lecture will take place on 11 December at 18:00 CET.

During the twentieth century, the surroundings and boundaries of the Alhambra have been subjected to an urbanising pressure that has resulted in the construction of many roads, parking, hotels, houses and cultural spaces. The siege of the Alhambra is today minimised by many hoteliers, politicians and architects who, from a city as saturated as Granada, see the surroundings of the Alhambra as a little built space, which can admit new constructions that facilitate greater tourist exploitation.

About the speaker

Juan Manuel Barrios is a Doctor in Art History and Professor at the School of Architecture of the University of Granada since 1999. Some of the books he has published as a single author are the following: Reforma urbana y destrucción del patrimonio histórico en Granada. Ciudad y desamortización (1998); Guía de la Granada desaparecida (1999); Iconoclastia (1930-1936). La ciudad de Dios frente a la modernidad (2007); Granada napoleónica. Ciudad, arquitectura y patrimonio (2013); Alhambra romántica: los comienzos de la restauración arquitectónica en España (2016); Granada, ciudad milenaria: historia urbana y arquitectónica (2025). Book Coordinator: Albaicín, paraíso cerrado, conflicto urbano (2003). Published articles on urban history, architecture and heritage in academic journals: Archivo Español de Arte, Goya, Al-Qantara, Informes de la Construcción, Arqueología de la Arquitectura.