Transhumance and the technique of blown glass in Spain They are, as of this Wednesday, December 6, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This has been decided by the UNESCO committee, meeting this week in Kasene (Botswana). The international transhumance candidacy, led by Spain, recognizes this type of grazing also in Albania, Andorra, Croatia, France, Luxembourg and Romania and thus adds to the recognition it already enjoyed in Austria, Greece and Italy, as reported by the Ministry of Culture in a statement.

In this sense, the department directed by Ernest Urtasun has recalled that Spain has with 125,000 kilometers of livestock routes that cover the entire peninsular territory and the islands, which show that transhumance is a widespread practice in all autonomous communities. Likewise, he has stressed that the seasonal movement of herds continues to be a “living heritage“which has given rise to “a rich cultural and ethnographic heritage, reflected in festivals and traditions, in toponymy, gastronomy and architecture related to this activity.”

On the other hand, the technique of blown glass in Spain has been inscribed in the List of Representative Manifestations of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO as part of the international candidacy shared with the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany and Hungary, which recognizes the knowledge, artisanal techniques and skills in glass making. Specifically, the technique of Blown glass is a knowledge linked to Spanish culturewith large production centers that have been in existence for more than three centuries, such as the Granja National Glass Center in Segovia or Gordiola Glass in Mallorca, the Ministry of Culture has specified.

In this sense, he has pointed out that, in addition, about 140 artisan workshops and artists throughout the territory and, sometimes, linked to museums, seek to give visibility to characteristic productions of already extinct centers.

Spain adds 21 cultural events

With these inscriptions, Spain now has 21 cultural manifestations declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as the department recalled. In addition, it has four examples included in the Registry of Good Practices for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritagean instrument that recognizes notable experiences in programs, projects and activities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage in order to transmit them to other countries.

Next year it is expected that the ‘Asturian Cider Culture’ candidacy will be evaluated by UNESCO; as well as the expansion for the autonomous communities of Madrid, the Canary Islands and Murcia of ‘The art of dry stone’, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018.