Ringing the bells by hand is already the Intangible Heritage of Humanity

The Intergovernmental Committee of the organization meeting in Rabat (Morocco) evaluated the initiative Promoted by the Albaida Bell Ringers Association together with other heritage advocacy groups by meeting the five necessary criteria such as intergenerational knowledge transfer and the presence of strong community involvement.

José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, Spain’s Ambassador to UNESCO, underlined andl “historical heritage is ringing”that they can “perpetuate and transmit as an example” of memory, history, tradition and communication.

The bells rang loudly at the 17th Meeting of the Unesco Intergovernmental Committee, held this week in the Moroccan capital and voted this Wednesday to declare the Toc Manual de Campanes a UNESCO World Heritage site, supported by the Albaida community. Site. Humanity. The United Nations organization has given the definitive international impetus to this ancestral tradition that has continued uninterruptedly for eight centuries in Albaida. Following the announcement of the endorsement, Uribes highlighted the historical legacy and work of the bell ringers who “know how to preserve it over time and pass it on to the young”. some words pronounced during Ringtones delegation headed by Albaidense Antoni Berenguerwent to the congress rostrum to appreciate and praise the peculiarities of this bell-ringing tradition. Berenguer, president of the Associació de Campaners d’Albaida and spokesperson for the group supporting the candidacy, underlined the following in a speech in Rabat after confirming the recognition: manual ringing “is a rich and diverse languageEach region has its unique characteristics”. It also proved that the intergenerational transmission revealed by both Unesco and the Spanish ambassador of this organization emphasized that “it is a sound code transmitted from ancient ringtones to the world over time”. Albaidense explained that tolls are an element of communication “They always convey an instant and objective message that impresses a group of people. He stressed that “messages that convey to us the passage of the day, the alarm, the party, the devotion, the grief, the farewell” and the ringing of the bells “always adapted to the historical reality in which they lived.”

Accompanied by about thirty ringers from Albaida, Palencia, Utrera and Zamora, as well as representatives of the Hispania Nostra association, Berenguer said that the ringing of the bells was “one of a kind”. universal language that unites peoplecities, countries and continents” and “signifies an identity of one’s own and a sense of belonging to a place and region. This is something that is only achieved by expert hands-on extraction of cymbals and cymbals that emotionally interpret this sound, its great richness of touch. Let the bells ring.”