Sagunto asks regional government to give its Holy Week 'BIC' cultural status
The Town Hall has formally requested the Generalitat to start the process to recognise the Sagunto Holy Week as Bien de Interés Cultural, and at the same time urges the Cofradía de la Purísima Sangre to update its statutes to fully admit women.
Sagunto's plenary has approved a request to the Generalitat Valenciana (the Valencian regional government) to start the procedure to declare the Sagunto Holy Week as Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC) — the highest level of legal protection for intangible heritage in the region. The recognition would unlock additional institutional support and boost the city's tourism profile. In the same motion, the council urges the Cofradía de la Purísima Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo (one of the city's main religious brotherhoods) to amend its statutes so that women can join as full members, resolving legal issues raised by their current exclusion. According to aytosagunto.es, the two parts form one strategy: protect the tradition and, at the same time, align it with the equality principle set out in current Spanish law. BIC status, regulated by Spain's 1985 Historic Heritage Law (Ley 16/1985), is the highest level of cultural heritage protection in the country; about 30,400 sites and items hold BIC designation across Spain (Wikipedia).