UNESCO opened today in South Korea the 48th meeting of the World Heritage Committee, which evaluates 30 applications from different countries, including Spain and Brazil, on a list that still includes Portuguese fortresses.
© HUGO MATHY/AFP via Getty Images
19/07/2026
by
Lusa
A Palestine also submits an application, which will be treated urgently in the face of the threat of Israeli occupation.
“The World Heritage Committee will bring the convention to life for the next 10 days, considering new appointments, examining the state of conservation and addressing growing challenges such as climate change, urbanization and conflicts,” said the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Khaled El-Enany, in his opening speech.
Among the proposals for the election as World Heritage at the event, which takes place in the southern South Korean city of Busan, is the cultural site of Ribeira Sacra in Spain, although its designation is surrounded by uncertainty after the International Council of Monuments and Sites (Icomos) advised not to register for not seeing in it a remarkable example of a traditional human settlement, as well as making criticisms of the criteria of integrity and authenticity.
In turn, Brazil has the aspiration to register jointly the Teatro Amazonas, in Manaus, and the Theatro da Paz, in Belém, two symbols of the peak of rubber in the late nineteenth century that combined European architecture and materials with the Amazon cultural identity.
The Palestinian candidacy of Sebastia, an archaeological site which dates back to the 8th and 9th centuries B.C., will be urgently processed in the midst of an Israeli order of expropriation, although it is in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
Mount Olympus and its involvement also participate in the mixed category of cultural and natural site, an event that brings together more than 3,000 participants from 150 countries in Busan.
The UNESCO Committee will also examine other proposals for cultural sites, such as those in France, presenting the beaches of Normandy landing and the medieval fortresses of Carcassonne (XIV-XIIIth centuries).
However, Finland proposes 13 works by Alvar Aalto with the support of Icomos.
They also appear on the list of Italian community theatres, Portuguese fortresses and the former Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara.
The World Heritage “is a symbol that unites humanity across borders and generations, and it is a solid basis that enables peace and cooperation between countries to be implemented,” said South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the ceremony held at the BEXCO Convention Center.