Parque Tecnológico Playa Paraíso: II International Campus City of La Laguna: cultural heritage, human rights and the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property

martes, 4 de agosto de 2026

II International Campus City of La Laguna: cultural heritage, human rights and the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property

The II International Campus City of La Laguna, organized by the City Council of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, the University of La Laguna, and the Fyde-CajaCanarias Foundation, was held from July 2 to 30, 2026, under the theme "Democracy and Human Rights in the Age of Artificial Intelligence." The academic program was structured around three tracks: "Revitalizing Democracy and Human Rights" (opening session on July 27 featuring Juan Manuel Fernández Martínez, Ana Palacio, and Ángel Gabilondo, with a closing session on July 30 featuring Baltasar Garzón), "Fighting the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property: Heritage and International Security" (July 28–29), and "Artificial Intelligence: Future Perspectives" (July 29).

Within this framework, on July 28 and 29, 2026, the course "Fighting the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property: Heritage and International Security" was held at Casa Anchieta (Plaza del Adelantado, 10, San Cristóbal de La Laguna), in both in-person and online formats. Its official description starts from a clear premise: cultural heritage is collective memory, and its systematic plunder represents not only a material loss but the deliberate destruction of the identity roots of entire communities. In the face of a criminal economy operating with growing sophistication, invisibility, and transnational reach, the course argued for the need to move from ad hoc reactions toward an integrated response architecture combining operational intelligence, judicial cooperation, cultural diplomacy, and traceability technologies, identifying Latin America and West Africa as key geostrategic regions, since they are both the origin of archaeological, ethnographic, and artistic heritage of great value and, at the same time, transit territories for criminal logistics networks.

The course was directed by Francisco Aznar Vallejo, president of the International Foundation for Heritage Conservation Centre (CICOP) and professor of Methodology and Didactics of the Arts at the University of La Laguna, and its rapporteur was Ramiro Rosón Mesa, PhD in Law from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and holder of a master's degree in Cultural Heritage Management from the University of La Laguna, who also moderated several of the program's panel discussions. Other speakers included Mohamed Joudat (professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat and president of the International Organization for Heritage Protection of Casablanca), Joaquín Moscoso Novillo (former Undersecretary of Cultural Heritage and former director of Ecuador's Institute of Cultural Heritage), Jesús Prieto de Pedro (emeritus professor of Administrative Law at UNED, holder of the Andrés Bello Chair of Cultural Rights, and a former Spanish government expert to UNESCO), Alesia Koush (holder of the UNESCO Chair on Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property and Cultural Rights at the University of Siena–CAMNES), and José Segura Clavell (Director General of Casa África).

The session on Tuesday, July 28, opened with Mohamed Joudat's lecture on heritage and international security (10:00–10:45 a.m.), followed by a panel discussion on heritage protection as an essential element of human security in the 21st century (10:45–11:20 a.m., moderated by Ramiro Rosón), José Segura Clavell's lecture on reparations for African countries (11:20–11:40 a.m.), Joaquín Moscoso Novillo's talk on public heritage policy in Latin America (12:00–12:45 p.m.), and a further panel discussion on heritage management models (12:45–1:30 p.m.), also moderated by Ramiro Rosón.

Wednesday, July 29, the session that could be attended live, opened at 10:00 a.m. with Jesús Prieto de Pedro's lecture titled "A Milestone Against the Plunder and Illicit Trafficking of Underwater Heritage: The Case of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes," held at Casa Anchieta itself. The Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes was sunk in 1804 during a naval engagement with England, against the backdrop of the era's political tensions in Europe, the subsequent Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808, and the independence movements of the American countries; it was noted that the Spanish peso — a coin minted under Charles IV — was the basis on which the US dollar was created following the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, and that Benito Pérez Galdós recounted this naval episode in his National Episodes.

The wreck of the Mercedes eventually became a landmark case of legal innovation against the plunder of heritage: the US company Odyssey Marine Exploration located and extracted the underwater site, prompting Spain to appear before US courts (litigation handled in the Eastern District of Virginia). The central legal argument, considered an irrefutable piece of evidence, was that the Mercedes was a warship of the Spanish State — not a private vessel nor one engaged in research — meaning its plunder also constituted a violation of the principle of state sovereignty. After several years of litigation, the ruling recognized the state character of the wreck and ordered the restitution of its contents to Spain, setting a precedent that distinguishes terrestrial archaeological assets from underwater ones, the latter having historically received far less social recognition; it was also noted that other countries, such as Peru, could raise similar claims under comparable circumstances.

Following the ruling, the coins from the wreck — pieces of eight, or "pesos," from the reign of Charles IV — arrived in Spain via Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base and were handed over, by ministerial order, to the Naval Museum and the National Archaeological Museum. Historical archives, particularly the General Archive of the Indies, proved crucial in identifying and documenting these assets internationally. Legally, it was noted that these assets belong to the State under state heritage regulations, so their recovery was structured as a forfeiture. As a conclusion to this part of the course, it was argued that the law can offer, through the principle of state sovereignty and the rules of international law, an effective alternative route for securing the return of plundered cultural property and underwater heritage.

At 10:45 a.m., a panel discussion was held on whether the law can become a preventive tool — not merely a reactive one — against the plunder and illicit trafficking of cultural heritage, featuring Joudat, Moscoso Novillo, Prieto de Pedro, and Koush, again moderated by Ramiro Rosón. At noon, Alesia Koush spoke on the human rights implications of illicit trafficking in cultural property, and the morning closed with a final panel discussion (12:45–1:30 p.m.) on communities, human rights, and the limits of the international legal framework in addressing illicit trafficking.

In his address, Professor Francisco Aznar argued that all underwater assets should be considered heritage of humanity, held in trust by States, and called for cultural rights to be regulated as a collective legal good at the domestic level in each country, noting that the Canary Islands already have their own regulations in this area and that Latin America also has relevant regulation — for example, in various Mexican states — citing the case of Ecuador, where there is an obligation to return cultural property to indigenous communities, all within the broader framework of cultural rights also raised by Joaquín Moscoso Novillo.

Wednesday's academic session continued in the afternoon, at the Convento Santo Domingo, with the parallel Artificial Intelligence track, and the day's cultural program closed that evening with the concert "Islas y Cuerdas" ("Islands and Strings"), featuring Benito Cabrera alongside four musicians from the Symphony Orchestra, in a dialogue between the Canarian timple and chamber string instruments, held at the Teatro Leal at 8:00 p.m. The July 29 event was covered the following day by the newspaper El Día.

The Playa Paraíso 2010-Adeje Technology Park initiative followed the event closely, sharing its impressions with some of the attending speakers — including Jesús Prieto de Pedro himself — and announcing that a summary of the day would be shared both on its blog and with the Adeje City Council, other administrations, and the Chamber of Commerce in London, given the international relevance of protecting cultural heritage as a common good.

Links of interest

–Official Campus website (program, event venue, sponsors):

https://campusinternacionalciudaddelalaguna.es/

–Introduction / "About the event":

https://campusinternacionalciudaddelalaguna.es/sobre-el-evento/

–Opening conference of the II International Campus (July 27):

https://campusinternacionalciudaddelalaguna.es/eventos/conferencia-inaugural-2/

–General Campus program (all three tracks):

https://campusinternacionalciudaddelalaguna.es/programa/

–Official page of the course "Fighting the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property: Heritage and International Security":

https://campusinternacionalciudaddelalaguna.es/lucha-contra-el-trafico-ilicito-de-bienes-culturales/

–Jesús Prieto de Pedro's lecture on the case of the frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (July 29):