Castle on the mend

BUSOT council has begun work to rehabilitate its castle, which is currently in ruins. The idea is to open this 12th century fortress as a tourist attraction.

Work has begun on restoring the north wall, opposite the Cabeçó d'Or.

A gravel path will be laid around the fortress and raised platforms for better viewing will be located along the path.

Visitors will be able to go up to the north tower, which was restored last year at a cost of €80,000.

The budget for this year's work is €86,000 and includes recovering old rooms and introducing infographics and information panels along the pathway so that visitors can learn what the ancient Muslim fortress was like originally.

The company carrying out the restoration work is using materials sourced in the area, including rocks, gravel, white cement, wooden beams and posts, and red marble gravel.

The project began in 2014 when the national government handed over ownership of the castle to the town hall, who then asked an architect to prepare a comprehensive rehabilitation project which would cost €950,000.

Busot mayor Alejandro Morant wants to complete the project within five years and each year another section will be rehabilitated.

The mayor said that, once open, the castle would "give a boost to the area from a commercial and economic point of view".

An additional €32,000 will be spent on putting wire netting around the southern side of the fortress to prevent stones and rocks from falling due to erosion from rainfall.