The Casa del Mar of San Vicente de la Barquera has completed the rehabilitation works carried out by the Social Institute of the Navy (ISM), a performance that has been commemorated this Monday with an institutional act in which the delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, the general director of the ISM, Elena Martínez, and the mayor of the town, Charo Urquiza, have participated.
The works, which began in February and have lasted for two months, have focused on the repair of the facades and the roof of the emblematic building, located in the urban center of San Vicente de la Barquera, on Calle Padre Antonio nº2. The works carried out have also included the adaptation of the terrace-viewpoint with a new enclosure.
The intervention, which has respected the guidelines of the Special Plan of Protection of the Historical Complex (Pepri), has maintained the aesthetics of the building, while improving its structural conditions, with special attention to thermal insulation and tightness.
The property is owned by the Social Security and in its different rooms, the Casa del Mar currently houses the regional office of the Social Security, the Maritime Captaincy and the office of the Social Institute of the Navy. The total budget of the work has amounted to 130,905 euros, VAT included, and has been executed by the company Cantabria General Infrastructures, S.L.
At the inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by councilwomen María Paz Martínez and Ana Isabel Roiz, the delegate of the Government, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, highlighted the importance of these works to "guarantee the functionality and security of a historic building that is an emblem of the villa".
Gómez de Diego stressed that "this rehabilitation not only preserves the heritage, but also improves the quality of the public services provided from this building, directly benefiting the workers of the maritime sector and the entire population."
For her part, the General Director of the ISM, Elena Martínez, said that the intervention "is part of the commitment of the Social Institute of the Navy to improve its facilities throughout Spain, to offer quality care to seafarers and their families", while expressing her total willingness to continue collaborating.
Finally, Mayor Charo Urquiza has expressed her satisfaction with the result of the restoration work, which has been possible “thanks to the collaboration between different public administrations”. “It is a very important day because we have managed together to do a work of rehabilitation of the Casa del Mar, which all the people and all the neighbors of San Vicente want very much,” said the councilor.
Regarding the spaces that have become available after the cessation of activity of the Cantabrian Institute of Social Services (ICASS), Urquiza has indicated that work is already being done on the definition of their future uses. “These are rooms that can be very useful for the villa in Barquera, and we continue to make progress in this. I am convinced that we will succeed,” she said.