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Alcorcón pushes ahead with the renovation of its only protected monument
The area around the Iglesia de Santa María la Blanca could soon be transformed. The PP is calling for urgent improvements to lighting and accessibility. The change would affect residents and visitors of Alcorcón.
Iglesia de Santa María la Blanca, in the heart of Alcorcón town centre, could undergo a significant transformation in the coming months. The Partido Popular has asked the City Council for a comprehensive intervention to revitalise the surroundings of this monument, the only one in the city designated Bien de Interés Cultural. The proposal includes improvements to lighting, the removal of visible wiring from the façade, the creation of landscaped areas and the installation of information signs.
The initiative, which will be debated at the next municipal plenary session, seeks urgent action from the council to restore prominence to a place that many residents consider an essential part of local identity. The Partido Popular spokesperson, Roberto Marín Vergara, has stressed that the church's heritage protection requires special treatment and that the neglect of recent years must end.
Among the proposed measures are routing the external wiring, improving the perimeter with green solutions and putting up panels explaining the building's history and artistic value. There is also an insistence on the need to strengthen the lighting in order to enhance the monumental ensemble, especially at night, when the area is usually left in semi-darkness.
The proposal could change the experience of those walking through Alcorcón town centre, making it easier to access and see a place that had, until now, gone unnoticed by many. If the City Council responds to the request, the church and its surroundings could become a reference point for cultural activities and neighbourhood gatherings.
Santa María la Blanca is much more than a religious building for Alcorcón. Its designation as Bien de Interés Cultural in 1993 marked a before and after in the protection of local heritage. The church, with centuries of history, has witnessed the municipality's urban and social evolution. Today, its surroundings reflect both the everyday rhythm of the neighbourhood and the need to care for spaces that connect past and present. Madrid is already beginning to move in that direction.