The Regional Ministry of Culture of Calp requested documentation to process the declaration of the buildings La Muralla Roja, Xanadú and the Club Social in la Manzanera as cultural monuments. In this way, the procedure for the protection of this iconic architectural complex, designed by the architect Ricardo Bofill, will be promoted. Calp has already expressed its willingness to initiate this process through two plenary agreements in 2014 and 2017.
Among the documents requested and already submitted by Calp is a report by the architect Santiago Varela, which describes in detail the heritage and architectural value of these buildings as outstanding monuments of 20th century architecture, and the approval and support of this initiative by Ricardo Bofill.
The aim is to protect these buildings, which are characterised by their "architectural, expressive and formal uniqueness", as the architect Varela states in his report, which also points out that "they have given rise to more critical analysis than many other actions in the past, which have achieved the category and prestige that the monumental declaration can bestow".
La Muralla Roja, Xanadú and the Club Social are the most emblematic buildings of the residential complex designed and built by Ricardo Bofill's architectural office in Calp in the 1960s and 1970s, based on the concept of urban planning integrated into the landscape.
The Red Wall is a building with 50 flats, built in 1972, which has a clear reference to the popular architecture of the Arab world in the Mediterranean, especially the mud-brick towers of North Africa. With this building, the architect wanted to break down the division between public and private spaces by reinterpreting the Mediterranean tradition of the Kasbah.
The Xanadú, consisting of 18 flats, was built in 1971 and architecturally represents an experimental prototype of a garden city in space, a milestone achieved with different levels and heights connected by ramps and stairs.
La Manzanera Club Social was built on the sea front among the emblematic buildings of the urbanisation, a leisure centre that housed a restaurant, a pool area and a small pier, which is now in a dilapidated state. This unique building is owned by the Ministry of the Environment, as it is located in an area of maritime land use, although it was ceded to Calp Town Council in 2017, together with the breakwater and the promenade, for a maximum period of 30 years. Calp City Council now intends to carry out the redevelopment of this emblematic area in the near future.