GLOBAL INTERVENTION IN THE HISTORIC SITE OF SANT MARTÍ D’EMPÚRIES

The municipality of L’Escala is a tourist icon due to its connection to the sea and its link to the Greco-Roman archaeological site of Empúries. Based on these identity elements, the Town Council has defined the strategic lines of its tourism positioning as a Sustainable Destination, with the consensus of public and private stakeholders, in order to promote cultural and wine-gastronomy tourism through its maritime frontage and monumental heritage. In this context, projects are being promoted to consolidate this model of sustainable, responsible, and high-quality development, moving towards the green and sustainable transition, improved energy efficiency, digital transformation, and competitiveness.

Sant Martí d’Empúries requires a series of strategic interventions (urban planning, architectural, and museological) to improve the heritage conservation of the site and its historical and artistic interpretation. This means turning the site into a key piece of the sustainable cultural and tourism development strategy for the entire BIC (Cultural Heritage Site) of Empúries.

This intervention allows the redistribution and decentralization of visitor traffic, thereby improving the cultural experience of the site and its competitiveness in terms of tourism quality. The project proposes various complementary actions:

• An architectural and urban intervention with minimal heritage impact for the conservation of the walls and improvement of site accessibility.

• The rehabilitation and enhancement of the Carolingian Castle, which is currently at risk and not in use.

• An intervention in interpretative signage which, through QR codes, allows access to an online virtual visit guide using augmented reality tools, 3D graphics, and access to public Wi-Fi, included in the project's communication and online dissemination plan.

• The creation of a new historical-artistic itinerary using new technologies.

• The intervention in the site will be respectful of the heritage environment and will use sustainable, integrated processes and materials. Universal accessibility—physical, linguistic, and sensory—will always be guaranteed without interfering with the intrinsic value elements of the BIC.

Beyond the historical enhancement of Sant Martí d’Empúries, the main objective is to turn the site into a key element in the sustainable tourism and cultural development strategy of the municipality of L’Escala and its surroundings, particularly in relation to the BIC of the Empúries ruins, of which the medieval ensemble is a part. This intervention will help redistribute and decentralize the visitor load, thus improving the site's cultural experience and its competitiveness in terms of tourism quality.

The project will include a communication plan that, through an online dissemination strategy, will inform visitors about all aspects of the visit to the site and the natural and cultural values of L’Escala and its surroundings, as well as the BIC of the Empúries ruins.