VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

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The urban edges of the small heritage settlements of The Sierra de Huelva, a border territory between Portugal and Spain that is part of the mountainous areas that surround the Mediterranean with a strong influence from the Atlantic, offer complex transition landscapes between the farmhouse and the agricultural field. They are one of the living testimonies of the water culture that has shaped the settlements and ways of life in these mountains. Through the study of Valdelaco, we will delve into landscapes full of details due to the physical and functional link between the houses and the small agricultural space that surrounds them. These environments mix the corrals of the houses, hydraulic infrastructures, agricultural canvases and vernacular architectures, and bring us closer to the main heritage values of these settlements, the historical relationships of the settlements with their environments. The urban edges are very fragile, although they enjoy growing social and institutional recognition. Their fragility lies in being the first elements perceived when reaching populations, their high dependence on the functions that society grants them and the consequences of the climate crisis in which we find ourselves. Their conservation also depends on the social role they play, today mediated by certain abandonment and changes in use that threaten to turn them into rears. These require knowledge of their singularities, specific treatment through sensible urban planning and integrative and cooperation policies between Spain and Portugal that allow them to be recovered as central places for contemporary living in these mountain ranges.