Panama to save heritage and develop tourism


News from Panama / Monday, March 22nd, 2021

Portobello town, a commercial route for the Spanish Crown in America since the 16th century, is currently preparing to become Panama’s tourist center and develop its natural and cultural heritage.

 

Local authorities and the National Government agreed on an inter-institutional action plan with a comprehensive strategy for this destination, with a view to the sustainable use of its surroundings and colonial ruins, while linking the local community as a beneficiary.

As part of the Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism (PMTS) 2020-2025, the current administration will rescue the old fortifications and some administrative and religious buildings, whose complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, although currently that body has it in its list of endangered places. The Ministry of Culture invited tender for projects for the rescue of the historical memory, Portobello’s facilities and the San Lorenzo fort, which is also under the protection of UNESCO.

Likewise, the small town is internationally famous due to the Black Christ of Portobello, an idol to whom miraculous powers are attributed, and gathers, in the novena prior to every October 21, a crowd of about 160 thousand devotees in the streets surrounding the church of San Felipe, in one of the largest celebrations of its kind in the country.

The Customs building, some other constructions for civil use, walls with loopholes, and cannon batteries with some rusty pieces on both sides of the bay with relatively deep waters, are some of the attractions that once restored and preserved will be the core of tourism.

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