The Consell rejects the construction of the parking lots that the Petra City Council awarded in July

PalmAn unfavorable report from the Historical Heritage Service of the Consell de Mallorca, issued on October 2nd, halted the construction of the parking facilities that the Petra Town Council awarded in early July. The construction contract, worth €527,308, was awarded to the company Melchor Mascaró, and in fact, work has not yet begun. This mandatory report from the Heritage Service, issued in early October, which ultimately rejected the project, had not yet been issued when the project was put out to tender. The parking facility is planned for a municipal plot of land located behind the Petra parish church. It includes a total of 60 spaces, 44 of which will be underground. The concession for these spaces will be public property, and in fact, they have already been acquired with an initial payment of €10,000 each. The other 16 parking spaces will be above ground and open to the public. There will be three accessible parking spaces and two for electric vehicles. The construction of the parking spaces is the first phase, as the plan for the future included a one-story municipal building, "yet to be determined," according to the Petra Town Council, to be built in a large available space above the underground parking garage. However, the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca) has now halted everything because the municipal subsidiary regulations do not permit a building used solely as a parking garage in this area, which is classified as low-density residential. In other words, a parking garage can only be built if it is complementary to a primary use. In this regard, the report mentions that the Town Council's submitted documentation states that another building of unknown use, not included in the project, will be constructed above the existing structure in the future. The document is clear: "The reality is that the project now being presented is for an underground building for the exclusive use of parking. From an urban planning perspective, it's backwards: a subsidiary use cannot be implemented exclusively without the implementation of one of the permitted uses."

Historic Site BIC

Furthermore, the report also mentions that the parking lot design does not integrate with the historical and artistic surroundings of the church. The project is located within the protected area of the historic site of Petra, declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the category of historical ensemble. "The proposed parking lot appears to be a reinforced concrete structure with metal railings and does not contribute any element of integration to the area where it is located, which is directly behind the church, and to the protected area of the historic site. The project fails to consider the fact that the construction is situated directly behind the church, and it simply does not fit in."

The mayor of Petra, Salvador Femenias, explained that the project was put out to tender and awarded before the Patrimoni report was available because "we thought we could put the project out to tender without having it." Regarding the project's suspension, Femenias stated that the City Council submitted an addendum to the project to the Heritage Department, but declined to comment further at this time.