Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Dr. Luis Suarez Carino (left), the director of the programme for Cultural Patrimony for Development in the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation discusses Spain's assistance to Jamaica in the preservation of cultural heritage sites. Looking on is Spanish Ambassador Jesús Tilva. Occasion was a press briefing on Friday at the Spanish Embassy in New Kingston. Dr. Carino was on the final day of a three-day visit to Jamaica. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
THE SPANISH are coming to 'invade' Spanish Town again. But this time the Europeans will be doing so on more friendly terms.
Last Friday, a delegation from the Spanish Embassy in Kingston visited the Old Capital to view the location's historic sites which may be part of a restoration project for the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (SAIC).
Dr. Luis Suarez Carino, director of the Cultural Patrimony for Development at that organisation, was among the Spanish delegation that met with Spanish Town Mayor, Andrew Wheatley, who described the discussion as "very positive."
POSITIVE MOVE
"The indications are that they will be putting together a report and it looks like something positive will be happening for Spanish Town," Mayor Wheatley told The Gleaner.
Officials from Jamaica Promotions Limited (JAMPRO) and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust also toured Spanish Town which has been terrorised by gang violence during the past four years.
The group visited the town's historic district which includes the Old King's House, the Rodney Memorial and the St. Jago Cathedral. Vila de la Vega was the original name given St. Catherine's chief town which was settled in the 16th century by the Spaniards. It was later renamed Santiago de la Vega. When the English took over from the Spanish, it became Spanish Town, Jamaica's capital. The city remained Jamaica's capital until it was superceded by Kingston in 1872.
This week, Mr. Suarez Carino and the SAIC met with the Kingston Restoration Committee for possible aid to renovate sections of the Jamaican capital, including the Holy Trinity Cathedral at North Street. For over 20 years, the SAIC has done renovative and restoration projects on historical monuments and centres in Latin American countries, as well as in the Middle East and North Africa. This is the organisation's first venture into the English-speaking Caribbean.
