Más por Menorca made its final attempt this Thursday to legally halt construction of the half-built viaduct in front of the Rafal Rubí archaeological site. The Popular Party government on the Island Council insists on pushing the project through despite warnings from UNESCO. Councilors Noemí García and Esteve Barceló from Más por Menorca have submitted a request for a legal report on the legality of the two-level roundabout project that threatens the prehistoric navetas (pyramids) of Rafal Rubí. The request is justified by the detection of "regulatory non-compliance" regarding the heritage and landscape impact assessment, which also fails to meet the commitments stemming from the declaration of Talayotic Menorca as a World Heritage Site. The construction company has already signed the contract

The initiative by Més per Menorca comes just as the winning consortium, formed by Copcisa, Juan Mora, and M. Polo, is about to begin construction between kilometer markers 5.7 and 7.7 of the main road between Alaior and Maó. In fact, the contract, formalized on January 23, commits them to carry out the project over eleven months with a budget of €6,576,525.64. However, Más doubts that the heritage impact assessment included in the file meets the standards required by regulations and the technical criteria established by UNESCO and ICOMOS for properties declared World Heritage Sites. He also notes the absence of the mandatory and binding report on landscape impact and integration, which would violate the provisions of the Menorca Island Territorial Plan (PTI).

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The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, sent a letter this Thursday to the Menorca Island Council (Consell de Menorca) requesting that it seek an alternative to the proposed overpass on the road near the Talayotic navetas of Rafal Rubí, as recommended by UNESCO. The letter, addressed to the President of the Menorca Council, Adolfo Vilafranca, and the Balearic Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sports, Jaume Bauzá, notes that the project "is currently suspended by a ruling of the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Appeals, pending a decision from international bodies, whose report, now received, does not grant the requested approval." On October 20, the Ministry received a letter from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, which included the ICOMOS International report on the status of Talayotic Menorca. This report has already been sent to the Menorca Council, as detailed by the Ministry of Culture in a statement. This report recommends halting the construction project for the overpass on the road near the Talayotic navetas of Rafael Rubí and seeking a consensus solution that does not affect this site, considered a World Heritage Site. The Minister of Culture urges adherence to the recommendations of the international organization and proposes a technical meeting to address how to ensure that any actions concerning Talayotic Menorca are carried out in accordance with international commitments to protect this site.

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The controversy over the Rafal Rubí Bridge has yet to subside. It has been revealed that, in the very draft amendment to the PTI, the People's Party (PP) has erased all the landscape parameters that had been included, in accordance with the special protection of the 280 properties included in the declaration of Talayotic Menorca as World Heritage.

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Menorca's monumental heritage hasn't been declared a World Heritage Site for two years, and its declaration is already being questioned. The expert who coordinated its nomination, Cipriano Marín; the director of the Menorca Talayotic Agency, Antoni Ferrer, and Mónica Luengo, the driving force behind the World Heritage declaration of Prado and El Retiro Park in Madrid, have resigned. Even the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has had to speak out and warn: international recognition is in danger. The change of government in the Island Council has once again modified the road model and, consequently, the order of priorities has also been altered. Road safety has been used as an argument over heritage protection, so the half-finished bridge that was supposed to be demolished around the prehistoric navetas of Rafal Rubí will now be built, thus ignoring UNESCO's recommendation. Nine organizations on the island have also contacted the government, but, despite the uproar, no response has been received.

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The coordinator of the file for the declaration of Talayotic Menorca as a World Heritage Site, Cipriano Marín, presented his resignation on Wednesday from continuing to be a member of the Scientific Council, according to sources from the entity.

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The political crisis sparked by the Menorca Council's decision to defy UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture and push ahead with the construction of the Rafal Rubí viaduct, which the world's leading body for heritage protection was calling for its demolition, has now claimed its first victim.

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