Dícido Cargadero Wins Hispania Nostra Prize

Hispania Nostra said on May 22 that the Dícido mineral loading pier in Castro Urdiales, Cantabria, had won one of its 2026 Buenas Prácticas awards, a national set of honors for heritage conservation projects. The nonprofit said the prize recognized the site’s “restauración integral,” placing the coastal industrial structure alongside award-winning projects in Toledo and Córdoba. The announcement was made in Madrid and published by the group in a press release dated May 22. Hispania Nostra said the awards, running since 2012, seek to highlight projects that are sustainable, innovative and transferable as models for future interventions. The Dícido structure stands in Mioño, a district of Castro Urdiales, and is one of the last surviving mineral-loading cantilevers on Spain’s northern coast. Castro Urdiales’ tourism website says the current structure dates from 1938 and has been protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural since 1996, with the official gazette notice published on April 16 of that year. Hispania Nostra’s heritage register says the site was formally declared BIC status with monument protection and identifies it as public property of the Castro Urdiales city council. (hispanianostra.org) ### Why did Hispania Nostra single out this site? Hispania Nostra said the award for Dícido was tied to a restoration that preserved the structure “pieza a pieza” after years of deterioration. In its May 22 statement, the group said the intervention kept the original structure intact and allowed visitors to walk the sea-facing gangway at a height of 15 meters. Araceli Pereda, president of Hispania Nostra, said the 2026 winners showed how heritage projects can generate impact in their communities and serve as examples for future interventions across Spain. (turismo.castro-urdiales.net) The awards site says Dícido won in the category for conservation of heritage as a factor in economic and social development. That framing matches the organization’s published rules, which define one prize category around preservation projects that contribute to development and quality of life. ### What exactly is the Dícido cargadero? (hispanianostra.org) The Dícido cargadero is an iron ore loading structure built to move mineral from nearby mines directly onto ships in the Cantabrian Sea. Hispania Nostra said the current version, built in 1938, extends 90 meters into the water. Castro Urdiales’ tourism office gives slightly fuller dimensions for the earlier cantilever system — 94 meters long and 6 meters wide — and says the original installation on the site was destroyed in 1937 during the Civil War before the present structure was built a year later. (premios.hispanianostra.org) The site’s longer history reaches back into the 19th century. Hispania Nostra’s register says the first loading pier at Dícido was built in 1886 to improve shipment of ore extracted from the local mines. The Castro Urdiales tourism page dates an early cargadero on the beach to 1896, reflecting the successive rebuilding of facilities on the site before the current 1938 structure. (hispanianostra.org) ### How close was the structure to being lost? Hispania Nostra’s Lista Roja register says the Dícido cargadero was added to the at-risk list on July 19, 2018 because of collapse risk and possible loss to the sea. The same register says it was removed on January 21, 2026 after rehabilitation. The group said the works were financed through Spain’s 1.5% Cultural program, a 25% contribution from the Castro Urdiales city council and project-design funding from the Cantabria regional culture department. (turismo.castro-urdiales.net) Local coverage and municipal information show the restoration had been under way for several years. Reporting on the project said the city received a state subsidy covering 75% of the rehabilitation cost, while a 2024 contract modification notice put the total cost of the works at 1.689 million euros after additional spending. (listaroja.hispanianostra.org) ### What happens next at the site? A notice published in the Boletín Oficial de Cantabria on May 5 said the Castro Urdiales city council had opened a public-information period for a project to improve access to the Dícido cargadero in the coastal protection zone. That step points to the next phase after structural recovery: making the approach to the monument easier to use. (muchocastro.com) Castro Urdiales has already begun presenting the restored site to the public. Hispania Nostra says visitors can now walk the rehabilitated gangway, and local notices in late 2025 advertised a technical open day linked to the project. The next concrete milestone is the completion of the access works now under review by Cantabria’s planning authorities and the Castro Urdiales council. (hispanianostra.org) (castropuntoradio.es)