The Menorca Council defies UNESCO and the Rafal Rubí bridge will go ahead

The Menorca Island Council government does not intend to heed UNESCO's advice. Despite the pronouncement from the leading international body for heritage preservation, which recommends abandoning the Rafal Rubí viaduct and reaching a consensus on an at-grade road solution for this crossing of the main road between Mahón and Alaior, the team led by Adolfo Vilafranca announced this Friday that it will proceed with the project. The Councilors for Culture and Heritage, Joan Pons Torres, and for Mobility, Juan Manuel Delgado, appeared together to denounce the "political maneuver" by the Ministry of Culture and to make it clear that "we will not back down," since, "for us, the safety of the people of Menorca comes first." Both councilors accused the Ministry of "wanting to endanger Talayotic Menorca with the aim of harming the Island Council's governing team." Pons Torres emphasized that this is a "very serious act of disloyalty towards Menorca, towards all Menorcans, and above all, towards the Consell's staff." Specifically, the Popular Party criticizes the Ministry for sending external reports to UNESCO that lack the endorsement of the Consell Insular's technical staff and whose sole purpose is to obtain a negative report and harm the road improvement project in the Rafal Rubí section, promoted by the Popular Party government. Joan Pons, who is also the spokesperson for the governing team, criticized the lack of transparency and opacity that, in his view, the Ministry practices, since it has never informed the Council of all the documentation submitted to ICOMOS and UNESCO. The Popular Party councilor warned that "it would be very serious" if the reports favorable to the viaduct, issued by the institution's Highways Department technicians, had not also been sent to Paris. He also contradicted the Ministry, stating in its report that the support for the project from the Scientific Council of the Menorca Talayotic Agency was unclear, when—he commented—an absolute majority of its members voted in favor of the heritage impact assessment. Even so, some experts, such as the candidacy coordinator himself, Cipriano Marín, have resigned in recent months in disagreement with the island government. Eight years of paralysis

Likewise, the councilors suspect that the legal report concluding that the Rafal Rubí bridge cannot be demolished has not been submitted to UNESCO either. They argue that if a serious accident occurs and the viaduct is not yet finished, claims for damages could be made against the engineers and politicians involved. Therefore, they insisted, "the bridge will be finished. After eight years of paralysis, we will complete the main road renovation, acting with the utmost protection of the landscape and heritage." The UNESCO report, however, is clear. It warns that the current proposal will negatively impact the landscape of the navetas (prehistoric stone structures) and affect the integrity and authenticity of the landscape declared as having Outstanding Universal Value. The report even mentions other sections of the road with less traffic where far less impactful solutions have been implemented than the one planned for Rafal Rubí.

The GOB (Balearic Ornithological Group) has highlighted that UNESCO's arguments coincide almost entirely with those presented by the eight citizens' organizations and professional associations that contacted them a year ago requesting intervention to prevent the construction.

From the opposition, Més per Menorca has already made it very clear that "if we lose the World Heritage designation, it will be the PP's fault." Its coordinator, Esteve Barceló, recalled that he had repeatedly warned the island government of the danger it faced and cautioned again that "continuing to stubbornly build the Rafal Rubí mega-roundabout without UNESCO's endorsement puts the designation at risk."

"Clear and forceful"

Barceló emphasizes that the letter sent by UNESCO is "clear and forceful," and that anything short of halting construction and agreeing on alternatives is "acting negligently and defending partisan interests instead of protecting what belongs to all citizens." Therefore, he demands that President Vilafranca immediately rectify the situation and withdraw the project. At least two World Heritage sites have lost their international recognition for failing to follow UNESCO guidelines. This is the case of the Elbe Valley in Dresden (Germany) and the Oryx Sanctuary in Oman. The Old City of Jerusalem is also endangered due to the constant attacks on its archaeological sites.