Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in the Serra de Mariola Natural Park, South-eastern Spain

The present study aims to inventory and analyse the ethnobotanical knowledge about medicinal plants in the Serra de Mariola Natural Park. In respect to traditional uses, 93 species reported by local informants were therapeutic, 27 food, 4 natural dyes and 13 handcrafts. We developed a methodology that allowed the location of individuals or vegetation communities with a specific popular use. We prepared a geographic information system (GIS) that included gender, family, scientific nomenclature and common names in Spanish and Catalan for each species. We also made a classification of 39 medicinal uses from ATC (Anatomical, Therapeutic, Chemical classification system). Labiatae (n=19), Compositae (n=9) and Leguminosae (n=6) were the families most represented among the plants used to different purposes in humans. Species with the most elevated cultural importance index (CI) values were Thymus vulgaris (CI=1.431), Rosmarinus officinalis (CI=1.415), Eryngium campestre (CI=1.325), Verbascum sinuatum (CI=1.106) and Sideritis angustifolia (CI=1.041). Thus, the collected plants with more therapeutic uses were: Lippia triphylla (12), Thymus vulgaris and Allium roseum (9) and Erygium campestre (8). The most repeated ATC uses were: G04 (urological use), D03 (treatment of wounds and ulcers) and R02 (throat diseases). These results were in a geographic map where each point represented an individual of any species. A database was created with the corresponding therapeutic uses. This application is useful for the identification of individuals and the selection of species for specific medicinal properties. In the end, knowledge of these useful plants may be interesting to revive the local economy and in some cases promote their cultivation.

Arquitectura del Recinto Ferial de Albacete. Antología documental 1771-1974

El conjunto edificatorio del Recinto Ferial de Albacete se caracteriza por su arquitectura vernácula construida en tapia y por designarse como espacio servidor de un único uso, la fiesta local que se constituye como motor económico esencial y diferenciador de la historia de Albacete. Pero es sin duda su singularidad edificatoria la que le confiere la importancia edilicia, siendo declarado como Bien de Interés Cultural en 1983 por el Ministerio de Cultura. Estas características han facilitado que se mantenga en pie desde su construcción en 1783 pero no han conseguido el empuje suficiente para programar un plan de actuación de protección en base a su memoria histórica, viéndose sometido a intervenciones parciales, reformas y ampliaciones que han variado su forma original. Esta publicación trata de compilar en un documento único la documentación dispersa existente que aproxime a la recuperación documental de su historia para que sirva de base en una necesaria y urgente propuesta de conservación de futuro.