Definition of protected cultural assets

The General Department of Fine Arts and Cultural Assets and Archives and Libraries, through the Office of Historical Heritage Protection, is responsible for maintaining and updating the General Register of Assets of Cultural Value and the General Inventory of Personal Property, which contain information on the assets for which the Autonomous Regions or the Central Government have chosen to establish some sort of protection.

The cultural assets with any of these levels of protection are managed in two databases:

Personal Property

According to article 335 of the Civil Code, personal property is that which may be appropriated and is not considered immovable and, in general, that which may be transported from one place to another without damaging the immovable object to which it is attached.

Assets in this database may have been declared as Assets of Cultural Value or included in the General Inventory of Personal Property.

Real Estate Property

Real estate property corresponds to the properties defined in 334 if the Civil Code and any element that is considered inseparable from the buildings, and which forms or has formed part of these or their surroundings, and which, even when separable, form a perfect whole that may easily be applied to other buildings or uses other than its original use (Law 16/1985, art. 14.1).

Real estate property included in the Spanish Cultural Heritage may be declared as:

• Monuments
• Historical garden
• Historical ensemble
• Historical site
• Archaeological zone

All assets included in this database have been declared Assets of Cultural Value.