Fortín del Grau Vell draws almost 1,000 visitors in first month
The Fortín del Grau Vell interpretation centre in Puerto de Sagunto (coastal district) recorded 992 visitors and 348 enquiries in its first month, as hotel occupancy in Sagunto neared 100% this summer.
The 'Sagunt i la Mar' Interpretation Centre at the Fortín del Grau Vell, in the historic port area of Puerto de Sagunto (coastal district), has closed its first month of operation with a reception that has exceeded the City Council's initial expectations. Between opening day and the end of this first period, the venue received 992 visitors and handled 348 enquiries or services, a figure that places it among the best-received cultural openings of the summer in the Camp de Morvedre district.
The breakdown by origin shows the new venue has reached well beyond a purely local audience. Of the 992 visitors, 518 were residents of Sagunto itself, reflecting how attached local people are to their own heritage. But the more striking figure is the venue's pull outside the Valencian Community: 291 people travelled from the Community of Madrid, making it the leading external market, ahead of the 183 visitors who came from elsewhere in the Valencian region. Domestic tourism accounted for 96.17% of all visits, while the remaining 3.83% were international travellers, led by Italy (14 people) and France (13), followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and several Asian countries.
The Fortín's strong start coincides with a summer of heavy tourist activity in Sagunto and Puerto de Sagunto. According to municipal figures, hotel occupancy reached full capacity on several days in July and in the first week of August, and spiked again between 10 and 16 August, the week the solar eclipse drew large numbers of visitors to the coast. The new centre joins other heritage sites in the municipality that have also seen strong footfall this season.
Grau Vell — the name given to Sagunto's old port, on the Puerto de Sagunto coastline — is not a recent find: it is an archaeological site with a much longer history than its recent public opening might suggest. Excavations on both land and underwater have shown the site was occupied almost continuously from the 6th century BC to the 6th century AD, nearly 1,200 years of uninterrupted port activity spanning the Iberian, Roman and late-antique periods. The site also carries a specific chapter from its medieval past: on 10 March 1459, King Juan II granted the town of Sagunto the right to load and unload cargo at Grau Vell, a royal privilege that cemented its role as a trading port at the time and now forms part of the historical story the new interpretation centre tells its visitors.
For the City Council, the first month's results confirm two trends behind its bet on heritage tourism: Sagunto's ability to draw visitors from other Spanish regions beyond the Valencian public, and the potential of new venues like the Fortín to broaden the town's cultural offer, which until now has centred on the Roman Theatre and the Castle. The centre, a short drive from central Puerto de Sagunto, offers a guided exhibition on the historical relationship between the town and the sea, and is positioning itself as another stop on the Camp de Morvedre's archaeological heritage trail.
The new venue's impact goes beyond the visitor count: each extra trip to a site in Puerto de Sagunto also feeds foot traffic to the district's bars, restaurants and shops, an effect the City Council links directly to its strategy of diversifying the town's tourist appeal beyond the beach season. Alongside the visitor figures, the Council also released an explanatory video about the centre and its exhibits, aimed at encouraging those who have not yet visited to add it to their next trip to town. With summer drawing to a close, the Council is hoping to keep up the pace of visits through autumn, when the Camp de Morvedre district usually packs much of its cultural calendar. According to Sagunto City Council, with additional information from elperiodic.com and historical background from Wikipedia on Grau Vell.