The General Project for the Fortifications of Alicante in 1721

The boom in activity at the Port of Alicante and events in the city during the War of Succession sparked interest in modernising its obsolete walled enclosure. This article describes the general project for the city's fortfications from 1721, which until now remained unknown, and assesses its technical quality. It was undoubtedly the finest project of those undertaken in the 18th century to modernise Alicante's fortifications. No record exists of the report that must have been produced, but there is a surviving map from 1721 kept at the Army's Geographic Service that until recently had been considered anonymous. The fact that General Engineer Jorge Prospero de Verboom visited Alicante at this time, together with other technical considerations, means the report can be attributed to him. Other contemporary projects by military engineers produced by order of Verboom are also described