## 4 Conclusions  
The fountains of the Alhambra and the Generalife are affected mainly by the growth of green algae, cyanobacteria and diatoms, which grow in spite of the physical and biocide treatments that are periodically carried out. Within these groups, the green algae are the most abundant, as is the case in many other examples of cultural heritage sites involving water and ornamental stone. In most cases different algae grow, forming complex communities and giving rise to sheens, mats or crusts. Coccoid unicellular green algae such as _Chlorococcus_ sp., _Bracteacoccus_ sp., _Chlorosarcina_ sp. and _Chlorosarcinopsis_ sp. are especially common, which sometimes form monospecific sheens. Other common genera of green algae are _Klebsormidium_, _Scenedesmus_, _Chlorella_, _Choricytistis_, _Pleurastrum_, _Gongrosira_, _Leptosira_ and _Pseudopleurococcus_. As for cyanobacteria, the most notable genera are _Pleurocapsa_, _Chamaesiphon_, _Chlorogloea_, _Chroococcidiopsis_, _Cyanosarcina_, _Myxosarcina_ and _Chroococcopsis_ (chroococcal); and _Phormidium_, _Calothrix_, _Leptolyngbya_, _Lyngbya_ and _Schizothrix_ (filamentous). The species of microalgae found here hardly vary with seasonal changes, and the most common microalgae are always the same ones. All of the genera found in this study correspond to widespread algae that are common in the colonisation of monumental fountains and stone cultural assets in general.  
Ten green algae genera and thirteen cyanobacteria genera have been isolated in cultures (with different species of some of them), thereby initiating the creation of a collection of algal cultures from the Alhambra and Generalife. Although the identification of each species among them is still in progress, this will gradually be carried out as new observations are made in the cultures. This collection may be used in the future to carry out trials of new treatments or to study the synthesis of certain products using microalgae in the study area.  
Conceptualization and work design, F.B.-G. and P.S.-C.; methodology and analyses, F.B.-G, C.A.-R. and P.S.-C.; software, M.T.; writing--original draft preparation, F.B.-G., C.A.-R. and J.R.-N.; writing--review and editing, J.R.-N., M.T. and P.S.-C.; data curation, C.A.-R. and M.T.; project administration, funding acquisition, F.B.-G and M.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the following projects: \"Desarrollo de Nuevas Sinergias Arte-Ciencia aplicadas a la Conservacion y Restauracion de los Palacios y Jardines de la Alhambra y el Generalife\" (VIRARTE), MINECO, with reference no. HAR2016-79886-P; \"Metodos sinergicos Arte-Ciencia-Tecnologia para la Conservacion-Restauracion de la Alhambra y otros Bienes Culturales\" (VIRARTE II), MICINN, with reference no. PID2019-109713 RB-I00; \"La aplicacion de las algaes procedetes de la Alhambra y el Generalife en tecnica s artisticas y de conservation-restauracion\" (FICOARTE), Universidad de Granada, with reference no. A-HUM-279-UGR18. And the contract \"Application de nuevas icanicas de diagnosis y tratamiento de las microcapas presentes en la adjuticura del agua de la Alhambra, mediante la combinacion de disciplinas\", Patronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife, with reference no. Adenda 1/2017.  
We would like to thank the Alhambra and Generalife Trust for their logistical support, without which it would not have been possible to do this work. We would also like to thank the Vice-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer, [PERSON], for his support on this research and for his initiative in creating the Unit of Excellence \"Science in the Alhambra\", as well as the anonymous reviewers for their constructive criticism and suggestions.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.