Three of judges and cultural heritage

One. It was the year 2014 when the Friends of the Camí d'en Kane began to publicly warn that the bridge crossing the Algendar torrent in the Binimoti district, built during the British rule in the 18th century, was threatening to collapse. Three years later, they raised the tone of the alert: the bridge did not stop deteriorating, and at any moment it could collapse. The Ferreries City Council and the Island Council of Menorca took an interest in it, and the historical heritage technicians of the Council, accompanied by the Civil Guard, tried to access it to check the state of the bridge and make a proposal for action. The Binimoti property blocked their path: this is private property, you cannot pass. But it was not at all clear that the path was private property. In fact, there was a legal dispute underway to determine if it was private or public – that is to say, heritage for everyone. The Historical Heritage Service asked the court for permission to inspect the bridge, but the judge prohibited the Council from accessing that section of the Camí d'en Kane until the dispute determined its ownership. The Council argued, warning that at any moment a piece of historical heritage could be lost forever and that it was essential to shore it up. But nothing, the judge ratified the veto, and also forced the Council to pay the legal costs of the opposing party. A few months after this order, as was foreseeable, the Binimoti bridge collapsed. Everyone, except the judge, regretted it. The judge was wrong, because I do not want to think that a judge could consciously defend the interest of a private individual to the detriment of the public interest. In the year 2023, another judge confirmed that the section of the Camí d'en Kane as it passes through Binimoti is of public ownership. But the bridge is no longer there.

Two. In September 2023, when UNESCO inscribed Talayotic Menorca on the World Heritage list, it noted that the Council had to demolish the half-built concrete bridge on the main road in front of Rafal Rubí, due to the landscape impact of this infrastructure on the surroundings of the funerary navetas of this site. But the new Council government that emerged from the May 2023 elections, the same one that went to Riyadh to celebrate and accept this recognition, went ahead and continued with the construction of the bridge. In November 2025, UNESCO issued a very harsh report condemning the Council's actions, but the island government acted as if it were raining. The works have continued, and today they are almost finished. The disfigurement of the surroundings of the navetas is definitive and unappealable. The damage is already done. And in the face of the wrongdoing, no prosecutor or judge has even had the thought of opening proceedings to see if the integrity of the historical heritage, which is everyone's heritage, could have been damaged. Not a word, not a request for information. Justice cannot claim ignorance. The issue of the Rafal Rubí bridge has appeared in all the media. By omission, they have ignored the explicit guidelines of UNESCO, they have endorsed the actions of an administration that compromises the World Heritage declaration, and in turn, they have favored a private business: the neighboring agrotourism, look at that, is the great beneficiary of having a direct entrance at the foot of the road.

Three. On July 1st, 2025, the Ciutadella City Council took a decisive step towards recovering the Plaça del Born for the citizens, fulfilling an electoral commitment of the parties that form the municipal government: eliminating parking spaces and converting the square into a pedestrian area. But this measure, which has brought life to the Born and has been applauded throughout Menorca, has lasted little more than a year. A group of local businessmen took the case to court, alleging that the removal of vehicles was harming their businesses. In June 2026, the Justice system ruled in favor of the businessmen. The City Council appealed, but the courts have forced the Council to implement the resolution immediately. On September 21st, cars returned to the square. The judges have calmly considered that restoring traffic does not cause any harm to the public interest. They have ruled in favor of private interests that make a profit on a public space, and against the shared enjoyment of this square by all citizens. We are talking about one of the most relevant and significant monumental and heritage spaces in Menorca. Cars and businesses are things of today, and they belong to private individuals. The square and the historical heritage it contains are the heritage of everyone. We Minorcans have not inherited from our ancestors the cars, nor the bar terraces, nor the souvenir shops, nor the bank offices, nor any of the other businesses that are in the square. We have inherited a public square that bears witness to some of the most important moments of our remote and recent history. But it seems that this counts for little or nothing in the blind eyes of Justice.

Perhaps it would be time for the Judiciary to change its traditional symbol: instead of holding a scale, Justice could hold a parking sign, or a private property sign. At least we would live more in accordance with the harsh reality and we would not have so many illusions. When justice, by action or omission, decides that the common good is nothing more than an annoying obstacle for the business of any individual, it is very hard to believe in impartiality, equanimity, or simply good faith.