State of the question and new perspectives in the treatment of the patrimonial heritage of al-Andalus in Catalonia

Abstract

Talking about cultural heritage means discussing the material and immaterial inheritance from the cultural past of a society, but from the present. In Europe, all too often, the heritage is managed on an economic and ideological basis in line with what sells (tourism) and what is written in the memory and ideology to reinforce the bases of the Nation-State. In the Middle Ages, Islam as a civilisation reached far beyond the Pyrenees, although for a relatively short period. However, it consolidated itself in a good part of the Iberian Peninsula for at least four centuries. From a critical point of view, and that of research, here the treatment the medieval Islamic heritage has received in Catalonia is dealt with, while also seeking space for debate to improve the understanding of this enormous cultural heritage that has too often been forgotten or has been mythified.