3.1. Area of Study
The city of Cartagena is located in the Region of Murcia, on the Mediterranean coast in southeastern Spain. Its origins go back to 227 B.C., when it was founded by the Carthaginians. It had its maximum splendor during the Roman Empire, and was known as Carthago Nova. Apart from the confluence of civilizations, which have provided a high number of landmarks such as its Roman Theatre and the abundance of Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine, and Moorish remains, one of the main features of Cartagena is its coveted defensive port, among the most important in the Western Mediterranean.
Due to its excellent orography, a set of artillery groups composed of batteries with large-caliber artillery pieces were distributed around strategic points on the coast of Cartagena in the 19th and 20th centuries. Those batteries played an important role until the end of the Spanish Civil War. After the Second World War, new weapons development was achieved and such batteries became obsolete. Although some of them still have the cannons that protected the city back then, nowadays most of these military batteries lie derelict or in ruins. As a consequence of their historical heritage and importance, Spanish and regional legislation is attempting to preserve and protected the main batteries, which make up a total of 15 batteries (see
Figure 3). In order to do so, some initiatives from the Cartagena administration have sought to convert these coastal military batteries into interesting and attractive places. Their reconstruction and preservation would not only allow for an increase in the environmental offer or contact with nature to the inhabitants of Cartagena, but would also offer an additional attraction to the touristic offer of the city, which received in 2019 a total of 160,870 visitors from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and France [
34].
However, since such a transformation implies a high investment cost, it is advisable to prioritize the order in which these batteries should be acted upon. To do this, it is necessary to take into account transport criteria, the distance to roads or train stations; infrastructure criteria, the distance to electrical grids or the distance to water tanks or natural water sources; touristic or scientific criteria, the distance to towns, beaches, archaeological sites, assets of cultural interest, etc.; and orography criteria such as the area, altitude, and slope of each battery. Therefore, this decision problem involves a set of alternatives (coastal military batteries) to be evaluated based on a group of criteria that should be considered. The description of both is presented in the following sections.
3.2. Brief Description of the Alternatives and Criteria
As a continuation to the abovementioned information, the alternatives of this study correspond to the main military batteries of the Municipality of Cartagena, making a total of 15 batteries.
The locations of the alternatives mentioned above are shown in
Figure 3. These coastal military batteries cover a wide range of ages. The oldest one is the San Leandro battery (A
15), which dates back to 1741. All the batteries have been disarticulated, with the last being the Aguilones and Parajola batteries (A
1 and A
9, respectively). Some of them, such as the Castillitos, Cenizas, and Jorel batteries (A
3, A
4, and A
7, respectively), still have their cannons. Most of them present very varied architectural styles, such as a neoclassical style in the Jorel battery (A
7), a modernist style inspired by Egyptian art in the Parajola battery (A
9), and even avant-garde lines reminiscent of Gaudí’s work in the Roldán battery (A
10). With the exception of the San Fulgencio battery (A
12), the rest have been designated as assets of cultural interest. Their names and main features are described as follows:
Alternative A1—Aguilones Battery: It is located at the southern end of the Ensenada de Escombreras. It had a decisive intervention during the Spanish Civil War. The last time it was operational was in November 1992. This battery was disjointed in 1994.
Alternative A2—Atalayón Battery: Its cannons were mounted between 1926 and 1933, before the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. It is situated beside the Tiñoso Cape. The anti-aircraft defense of that cape was its main mission during the Civil War.
Alternative A3—Castillitos Battery: It is located on the side of the Tiñoso Cape. From this position, a wide panoramic view from Los Aguilones (Escombreras) to Gata Cape can be appreciated. It is currently out of service, but remains armed with two impressive Vickers cannons. It crossed fire with its twin, the Cenizas battery, preventing enemy ships from bombarding the Cartagena Naval Base.
Alternative A4—Cenizas Battery: It was built for the Cartagena Artillery Regiment. Its fortification project on the Cabezo de Cenizas mountain ended in December 1932. It covered a wide maritime sector, avoiding bombardments from the Cartagena Naval Base less than 35 km away. Although this battery fired its last shots in 1981, it still has the cannons that protected it back in the day.
Alternative A5—Conejos Battery: Its position is close to the Aguilones Battery. This battery was built during the Artillery Program of 1926. It had four cannons that were framed in the Anti-Aircraft Group of the Artillery Regiment of Cartagena in 1940. Two decades later, it carried out its last real shooting exercise. This battery was disjointed in 1965.
Alternative A6—Fajardo Battery: It is situated in the southeast of the Mount of Galeras on a small peninsula 94 m in altitude. That position, which closes the mouth of the Port of Cartagena on the west side, has played an important role in the defense of the naval base, housing several cannons over the years. Currently all its cannons are disjointed.
Alternative A7—Jorel Battery: It is located at the very tip of the Tiñoso Cape, 218 m above sea level. It was built in 1929 and some of its facades present a neoclassical style. Its main feature is its shooting positions, which were fortified semi-buried to camouflage with the landscape. It is currently out of service, although it remains armed with three cannons.
Alternative A8—Chapa Battery: This battery is situated to the east of Portmán Bay. It was built during the Artillery Program of 1926 between the years 1929 and 1931. It had great relevance in different events that happened in the area during the Spanish Civil War. It carried out its last real fire action on 11 May 1992.
Alternative A9—Parajola Battery: Its position, with an average altitude of 165 m, is close to the Roldán Battery. Its panoramic view extends from Tiñoso Cape to Escombreras Bay. Its facade is in a modernist style inspired by Egyptian art. It is known for having been the battery that sank the Castillo de Olite ship during the Civil War on 7 March, 1939. It is currently dismantled and has been out of service since 1994.
Alternative A10—Roldán Battery: It is located at the top of Roldán mountain, with an altitude of 485 m. This anti-aircraft battery was built between 1928 and 1929. Its architecture, inspired by avant-garde lines, is reminiscent of Gaudí’s work and constitutes one of the most unique buildings built for the defense of the Cartagena Naval Base. From its altitude, a vast 360° sector was dominated, widely encompassing all the potential trajectories of enemy aircraft. It carried out its last fire exercise in 1959.
Alternative A11—San Isidoro, Santa Florentina, and Santa Ana batteries: These batteries will be considered a single alternative due to the proximity between them. The main characteristic of the batteries of San Isidoro and Santa Florentina is their privileged situation to dominate the inlet of the Port of Cartagena. The battery of Santa Ana is close to the previous two batteries and its origin comes from the Fort of Santa Ana from the beginning of the 18th century, which was rebuilt into a castle. These batteries were disjointed in 1956.
Alternative A12—San Fulgencio Battery: It is located at an altitude of 27 m above the hill that connects with the Mounts Galeras and Fajardo. It had the main mission of preventing the bombings of the Arsenal of Cartagena and the landing of enemy warships. It was reformed in 1870 and was disjointed before the Spanish Civil War.
Alternative A13—General Ordóñez and San Julian Battery: It came into service in 1909. Due to its elevated situation of 281 m, it offers an excellent panoramic view of the Escombreras cove, the port, the military arsenal, and the Campo de Cartagena. Its four cannons were definitively dismantled in 1960.
Alternative A14—San Leandro Battery: It is located very close to the Port of Cartagena. Due to its low altitude, its main mission was to cooperate with the rest of the batteries in defending the port inlet, trying to prevent the entry of enemy warships. This battery dates back to 1741.
Alternative A15—Trincabotijas Battery: This battery is located at the southern end of Cortina Cove, with an altitude of 58 m. It is the oldest coastal battery in Cartagena since it was built in 1672. This battery underwent several transformations over the years and was dismantled at the end of the Spanish Civil War.
After carrying out the description of the alternatives, it is necessary to mention all the criteria and subcriteria that have influence in this decision problem. The variables (criteria and subcriteria) selected in this study were obtained through an advisory group composed of six experts from different fields, specifically with two PhD experts in tourism and environmental management, a faculty professor expert in such disciplines, a regional politician, a municipal land-use planning engineer, and a researcher with more than 10 years of experience in the reconstruction of historic buildings. In short, the criteria (
C) and subcriteria (
SC) of this case of study are shown through its hierarchy structure (
Figure 4), which constitutes the starting point for the application of the AHP methodology.