'The bastion of the people': this is how the first fortification recovered from private owners operates within the walls of Cartagena de Indias.

These spearhead-shaped rock fortifications, whose purpose was to defend cities and respond to cannon fire against invading armies, are mostly preserved in Europe and America.

The only bastions in the inventory of Colombia's architectural, historical, and cultural heritage are in Cartagena de Indias.

Thanks to its walls, which date back more than four centuries, the Heroic City not only defended its citizens from the siege of pirates and corsairs for two centuries, but today it is a source of pride and heritage for humanity, attracting thousands of tourists each year.

It was thanks to its fortifications, its bastions, and its heroic stories that UNESCO declared Cartagena de Indias a World Heritage Site in 1984. A title that would forever change the course of a city now considered a jewel of national tourism.

The walls of Cartagena were conceived and designed by Italian architects , financed by the Spanish Crown and built with blood, suffering and pain by thousands of slaves brought from Africa, who arrived on the slave ships of the Portuguese and Spanish companies.

It was thanks to its military fortifications that the people of Cartagena, Creoles, Spaniards and slaves, under the command of the Spanish Admiral Blas de Lezo, won an unequal battle against the English under the command of Admiral Sir Edward Vernon in 1741.

It was also thanks to this small stone corral that Cartagena de Indias survived the famine during the bloody reconquest by the "peacemaker" Pablo Morillo in 1815.

And one of those fortifications with history, the most popular and mystical, is the Baluarte de Santo Domingo, located in front of the emblematic Avenida Santander , which receives beautiful sunsets facing the Caribbean Sea.

It was precisely the legal dispute between the state and private individuals over the use of this monument that resulted in a ruling by the Council of State in November 2022, and which constitutes the key with which the state seeks to recover Cartagena's privately owned heritage assets for its citizens.

The ruling ordered the Cartagena de Indias Workshop School, Etcar, a representative of the Ministry of Culture, and the District to recover the monument from which private individuals were profiting.

“…The termination and liquidation, in its current state, of the lease agreement on the Santo Domingo Baluarte, as well as any other similar lease agreement applicable to said property, within six months of the enforcement of this judgment,” stated the landmark ruling that ended a contract of more than 20 years for a Colombian citizen and his German partner, who occupied the property for personal use with a bar that produced millions in dividends with the complicity, ineptitude, and silence of the local authorities.

However, recovering this public property was not easy for the District, as the people occupying it filed lawsuits and multiple judicial measures, which always ended up ruling in favor of the city.

This national monument covers more than 2,500 square meters and is a jewel of military architecture and Cartagena's history. It preserves its main sentry box and its 20 shiny, well-maintained cannons. Inside, there are two giant wells for rainwater, which flows through a still-preserved, artisanal system of canals. During years of famine and drought, these wells collected fresh water to feed the armies.

At the center of the bastion is the drying rack, covered in clay tiles in the colonial style. What was once a gunpowder and ammunition depot now houses the kitchen and bar of the "Baluarte de la Gente," the gastropub recently opened by the Ministry of Culture and the District where students from the Cartagena de Indias Workshop School create dishes and work.

The restoration of this Bastion for the city has sparked a debate about how private individuals use Cartagena's public and heritage assets and how they are compensated.

And to demonstrate to the world the urgency of bringing these assets to the city as soon as possible, so that its young people can benefit from the profits generated by tourism and so that these spaces can become a great classroom for learning about work, the Cartagena de Indias Workshop School, under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, opened the gastropub "El Baluarte de la Gente" there.

“On May 20th, with the presence of the Minister of Culture, the project was presented to the media and authorities, and opened to the public four days later, on May 24th. This is a space for locals and tourists to enjoy without any restrictions, so that Colombians and citizens of the world can appropriate and enjoy this heritage asset of humanity and its history,” says Sandra Paola Schmalbach Pérez, Director of the Escuela Taller Cartagena de Indias, an institution that for more than 30 years has offered training to young people from social classes 1, 2, and 3 in traditional trades and arts such as carpentry, gardening, electricity, boatbuilding, and cooking.

From now on, this space embraces Cartagena at its finest. In addition to gastronomy, some afternoons and evenings feature artistic and cultural presentations featuring the best of local talent, set against the backdrop of the most beautiful sunsets in the Caribbean.

While a cumbia or bullarengue song plays, sung by a singer from Marialabaja (Bolívar), you can sample one of the typical dishes on the menu, such as the delicious Bahía de las Ánimas Ceviche: fresh sea bass ceviche, onion, chocho with aji topito (topito chili pepper), tiger's milk, cancha corn, and green plantain chips. This ceviche pays tribute to the Bahía de las Ánimas, a significant place in Cartagena's history where ships from the Old Continent docked when the city was the epicenter of world trade.

The entire menu at 'El Baluarte de la Gente' pays homage to the city's history and its symbols.

“Our offering for our visitors is based on the four pillars of learning the culinary knowledge of our region: the indigenous, the ancestral, the traditional, and the typical of Caribbean cuisine. Our creations are based on these,” says Diana Marcela Jiménez Peralta, a cooking teacher at the workshop school and head chef at the gastrobar.

Another recommended dish is the Balerío de Jaiba: Crab croquettes in a coconut milk and garlic reduction, breaded with panko. This dish, based on crab, a highly sought-after mollusk in the Caribbean, pays homage to the baleríos, which were nothing more than bullet and gunpowder depots.

“We're implementing the learning-by-doing methodology, our workshop school's signature: students receive 20 percent theoretical classes and 80 percent practical classes. But in the culinary area, we didn't have that practical option; we had to seek out job opportunities elsewhere. Now, the workshop school offers culinary students the opportunity to have a job,” adds Schmalbach Pérez.

'El Baluarte de la Gente' is open to the public every day between 4 pm and 11 pm, and prices for food and drinks range from $6,000 to $50,000.

“Without naming it, it was a different environment, but I think what should be highlighted is what we're doing now and that the space is open to everyone, to all ages, without any discrimination, because what Cartagena needs is more inclusive spaces, spaces for everyone where we can enjoy what the city has to offer,” adds the director of the Escuela Taller.

In addition to the Santo Domingo bastion, the District also recovered through legal means the Reducto bastion in Getsemaní, another national monument that had been occupied by private individuals who had set up a lucrative business hosting social events overlooking the bay for more than two decades.

Also being debated in court is the return to the District of the 26 vaults in the San Diego neighborhood—across from the Salesian School—which were used as gunpowder and ammunition depots during the Colonial Period, but have been occupied by private individuals since the end of the last century, profiting from the sale of handicrafts, clothing, and tourist attractions. The District has already recovered four vaults and is seeking the other 22.

The occupation of the San Francisco Javier bastion, located across from the San Teresa Hotel, another national heritage monument from which a company profits, is also the target of a lengthy legal process.

The cost these private individuals have paid to the city and the Ministry of Culture for the use of the city's fortifications is paltry, with amounts ranging from 500,000 pesos to two to three million pesos per month. Some have even gone several months without paying.

Correspondent for EL TIEMPO

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