The relationship between the Punta Begoña Galleries restoration project and the European Heritage Days program is strengthened.

In 2024, the Radio and Heritage Program “Punta Begoña, Zuzenean. Live and direct ” was one of the few activities in the Basque Country and Spain to be officially incorporated into the Official Program of the European Heritage Days.

Last Monday, Ekaina 23, 2025, the EHD TEAM, the Council of Europe, and the European Commission announced that the Punta Begoña Fundazioa Foundation’s proposal “Belvedere For History” was incorporated into their European Heritage Days Stories program.

After a long process of analysis and validation, the Council of Europe and the European Commission have confirmed the project’s European vocation, examining hundreds of heritage projects from across the continent.

The aim was to showcase heritage projects that tell “stories of Europe,” going beyond local or national significance.
The Foundation presented the project “Punta Begoña, Belvedere for history. The successful meeting of the Spanish Howard Hughes and the architect Bastida, to erect a symbol of modern European architecture on an essential enclave in our history”.

The proposal was summarized as follows:

That 20th century heralded wonders. The decade of the “Roaring 20s” was approaching, and Europe was emerging from a world war and an atrocious pandemic.

Horacio Echevarrieta, described as the greatest businessman in the history of Spain and one of the most prominent in Europe for decades, defied crises, wars, and pandemics.

The economic empire he was creating amazed the world: electricity, construction, mines, shipping, roads, railways, subways, oil, airlines, submarines, jet engines, media… He was also a patron of artists, a philanthropist, a defender of workers, and even a savior of prisoners from the African War.

“I can part with any of my properties, except Punta Begoña”.

On the cliffs surrounding his house, he wanted to build a belvedere that reflected his way of being: energy, drive, balance, effort, love for art, and a passion for beauty.

His criterion in life was to work with the best, and he thought that Ricardo Bastida—a prolific, innovative, and prestigious architect with a passion for travel—would be the right person to solve that complex technical challenge and create a monument to the exaltation and contemplation of the landscape.

To achieve that goal, they searched throughout Europe and the world for the best techniques and materials to make that dream a reality.

From that collaboration, the Punta Begoña Galleries emerged in 1922, described by experts as “one of the most interesting historical capsules in Spain”.

A century later, they are being restored under the “Open for Works” model. This process is based on exhaustive research transferred to society, citizen participation through site visits and cultural and educational activities, and the criterion of the social function of heritage during and after the restoration.

The innovation applied by Echevarrieta and Bastida is still present a century later, to the point that the open restoration of the Punta Begoña Galleries has become the first heritage project certified internationally for its compliance and effectiveness regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SGS International).

It can be explored in full at openheritagedays.com.

The European dimension of the Punta Begoña restoration is highlighted in the document validated by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, according to the following description:

Few professionals represent the European spirit in their projects and work better than Horacio Echevarrieta and Ricardo Bastida.

The former created companies that have lasted to this day, with his agreements and alliances with European actors playing a fundamental role, aiming to create consortia that, while not neglecting the profit motive, were oriented toward progress and improvements in social quality of life.

Bastida directed works that, four years earlier (1918-1922), were able to erect a pioneering piece of engineering in its application of reinforced concrete for a building of these characteristics in Spain, alongside craftsmanship that applied the influential criteria and aesthetics of Modernism.

Bastida wanted to bring to the Cantabrian coast those landscapes of the Mediterranean coast that he had encountered on his travels through Nice or the Amalfi Coast of Italy, adapting them to protect an unstable cliff front.

The decorations of this vertical garden built in cement, marble, ceramics, and Burmese teak wood reference exotic places where the European bourgeoisie used to go in search of new markets.

A century later, the restoration of a monument that innovated and drew from the sources of the European avant-garde is also being carried out in alignment with European practices. The entire process is based on the pioneering and constant verification of how a cultural heritage project can serve the fulfillment and effectiveness of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The European Commission places the SDGs at the center of European Union policy-making. The Restoration and Enhancement of the Punta Begoña Galleries applies and tests them. And the results are surprising.