The Pedreguer City Council will participate again this year in the lighting of towers, watchtowers and talayots of the Mediterranean, an initiative that will take place this Saturday, January 13 in all Catalan-speaking territories.
The project aims to raise awareness among the population about the situation in the Mediterranean region, where many people, forced to leave their homes, lose their lives every year. Furthermore, it seeks to vindicate and highlight the towers, watchtowers, talayots and fortifications as part of the historical and cultural heritage present in all the territories that border our sea.
With a historical background that dates back to the creation of a network of watchtowers along the coast of the Crown of Aragon in the 13th century, the event this Saturday the XNUMXth puts a twist on history by proposing that these structures be become points of light and windows open to welcome. In this way, numerous towers throughout the Mediterranean region will light up simultaneously. In previous editions, watchtowers from the island of Chios (Greece) and various places in Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon have participated. More and more towns on the Mediterranean coast are joining this activity, as is the case of Pedreguer, which is participating again.
The lighting takes place every year during the first or second weekend of January. The action involves the coordinated lighting of flares and smoke from towers and coastal fortifications, as well as from inland municipalities. Previously, a manifesto prepared by the Ramón Muntaner Institute was read.
To carry out the activity in Pedreguer, a climb to the Molinets mountain has been scheduled at 12:00 p.m., departing from the Glorieta. At 12:45 p.m., in front of the windmills, the reading of the manifesto will take place, and at 13:00 p.m. the lighting of smoke will take place, concluding the morning with the interpretation of Travel to Ithaca by Lluís Llach. Likewise, during the climb you can visit the windmills inside.
At 17:30 p.m. in the afternoon there will be another climb to the Molinets from the Glorieta. At 18:15 p.m., the manifesto will be read again and at 18:30 p.m. the fire flares will be lit again, followed by the interpretation of Travel to Ithaca from Llach. It is recommended to bring a flashlight or some other means of lighting for the afternoon activity, since you will descend from the mountain in low light.
The event will have the participation of the Els Pòrxens Association, the Coet i Corda group, in charge of lighting the flares, and the Institute of Regional Studies. In addition, there is the collaboration of supra-municipal Mediterranean entities such as the Fons Mallorquí, the Fons Català, Amnesty International, the Federation of Study Institutes of the Valencian Country and the Ramón Muntaner Institute.
Ferran Lloret Morell, councilor for heritage and solidarity of the Pedreguer City Council, has expressed that "the act recreates the visual communication that existed between watchtowers, which were essentially a self-defense resource and which now, with this action, become points of light, welcoming beacons, that show the way to people who are forced to leave their homes and cross the Mediterranean, where many lose their lives. Furthermore, this year we must also remember the people suffering from the armed conflict in Palestine, at the easternmost end of the Mediterranean, and that they must not be forgotten.
