Los proyectos de fortificación de ciudades costeras en España (1721-1726): líneas estratégicas y debate técnico

Abstract

Modernizing coastal fortifications in Spain was the Bourbon monarchy’s priority in the first quarter of the 18th century. In 1721, Jorge Próspero Verboom, the General Engineer, together with some military engineers -including his son Isidro Prospero- began a reconnaissance trip of the defences on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. From there, he directed fortification projects for Alicante, Cartagena, Ceuta, Malaga and Cadiz. In 1725, he undertook a new journey, this time to the western Spanish-French border. He drafted projects for Pamplona and Fuenterrabia, and tasked Isidro Próspero to write the project for San Sebastian, using this project as an endorsement for his son to succeed him as General Engineer. This research describes the technical projects developed in this period and contextualises them in strategic territorial and defensive lines. The defensive systems underwent crisis during the War of Succession. Not only did they need reinforcement but it was also necessary to preserve commercial routes with a safe system of ports. Intense debates surrounded the proposed technical solutions to the priorities of reinforcing enclosures, communicating isthmuses and bays with the interior, coast batteries and exterior fort systems in strategic places.