During decades of
decline in the Sherry trade a great number of bodegas have fallen into disuse and in many cases have been
demolished. Some have been converted into parking, restaurants or supermarkets
for example, but the inexorable disappearance of this historical patrimony - and
to an extent identity - has been worrying many. The problem is finding a use
for these industrial buildings which would be compatible with urban conservation.
The Campo de Guía área in El Puerto de Santa María presents a particular problem
as it is a whole urban district of bodegas, unique in Europe.
To this end the Osborne Foundation and the
University of Sevilla have come up with an innovative proposal for Osborne’s XIX
century Bodegas de Exportación in the Campo de Guía and have mounted an
exhibition, “New Uses for 100 Year Old Bodegas” in Osborne’s Bodega de Mora.
Eight models with explanatory panels show the conversion of the bodega complex
into a school of horeca, school of oenology, study area and student
accommodation. The Bodega de Mora itself has already been converted into a
restaurant, gallery and shop.
There is no other reason for preserving these wonderful old bodega buildings than pure sentiment. To those of us who have had the wonderful experience of wandering from bodega to bodega, trying to keep in the shade and tasting sherries direct from the solera, these building are irreplaceable. Here's hoping they can be preserved.
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