Wendy WilliamsMOROCCO could be laying claim to half of the tourist revenue from the Alhambra Palace in Granada.
In a bid to ‘build bridges between the two countries,’ the Moroccan Culture Minister Bensalem Himmich, has reportedly proposed that shared management be established between both countries to run the Granada monument.
Himmich argued that the arrangement would be justice for Boabdil, the last Moorish King of Granada, who was expelled by the Catholic Kings and spent the last years of his life in North Africa.
‘Boabdil’s descendents were Moroccan’, said the Culture Minister.
He added: “Such an arrangement could open bridges of cooperation and friendship between our two countries.”
The Minister reportedly made his demand to both the Spanish Government and the Junta de Andalucia.
However, the Moroccan Embassy has since denied their Culture Minister had called for income from the Alhambra.
“After consulting with the Ministry, we have no data to verify these declarations,” explained a spokesman.
The Alhambra was the most popular tourist attraction in Andalucia last year with more than three million visitors to the monument and Generalife gardens.
These allegations popped out on the Spanish media from thin air citing a moroccan website in Arabic that declared to have never printed any declaration by the minister regrding any of this.
Believe it or not, we do check our ministers sanity before they get into office. Do you do do the same for your journalists regarding checking their sources?
A joint enterprise such as the care, finance and promotion of the Alhambra, properly organised, could be beneficial to both countries – promototing reciprocal agreements to the benefit of both which would improve tourist attractions and help bring in more tourist ‘dollars’ for all concerned.
However, scaremongering articles about Moroccans trying to ‘reconquer’ the Alhambra don’t help anyone.
Baseless article. Just another example of the numerous false stories that have appeared in Spanish media since the exposure of the fake photos relating to victims at Gdim Izik camp in Laayoune last year.
http://www.african-bulletin.com/news/886-the-overlapping-accounts-in-the-dynamic-relationship-between-morocco-and-spain.html