Alarm in Montuïri for the sale of the Sabor talayots: they could end up in private hands

MontuïriAfter learning of the news of the talayots of Sabor in Montuïri going on sale, different alarms have been raised regarding this archaeological heritage of great value, located a few meters from the well-known Son Fornés settlement. Thus, the voices consulted by l'ARA Balears, after making the news known last weekend, opt for achieving public ownership of the settlement.

This is why Cristina Rihuete, director of the Son Fornés Archaeological Museum, has been the first to demand maximum protection for this settlement. "We were unaware of this settlement going on the market. We know of it and are aware of its existence, and it is also very close to Son Fornés and next to the tower of the ancient talayot known as El Campanar dels Moros". Rihuete, who already experienced the acquisition of the Son Fornés estate at zero cost by the Montuïri Town Hall, requests a similar solution. "At that time, the Son Fornés estate had about 300,000 m². The new owner segregated the entire extension of the settlement and transferred it to the Town Hall, which obtained the entire settlement and the houses of the estate without costing the municipality a single public euro".

Rihuete sees this option as the best solution, as she points out that "when administrations have to spend a lot of money to acquire a settlement, all this is money that does not go to tasks such as excavations or research on this complex. This is why what we see as ideal for the settlement would be to reach an agreement with the owner as was done at Son Fornés", she explains.

And he adds that "it is also important to bear in mind that Sabor is protected with the figure of BIC -good of cultural interest-, the highest there is and, therefore, the property must respect what heritage regulations say about its conservation and obligation to be visitable".

For their part, from the Montuïri City Council, the mayor Toni Miralles has explained that "it would be ideal if these plots were public and, thus, could be preserved. Although it already has BIC protection, being able to add this space to the Montuïri archaeological park could be very interesting".

Miralles also adds that for this reason "it would be necessary to have funding from supramunicipal institutions to be able to acquire it". "Having another archaeological site, in the long term, would allow us to know more about the prehistory of Montuïri", concludes the mayor.

Likewise, from the Consell de Mallorca they have explained that it is the Montuïri City Council, if it deems it appropriate, who must acquire this archaeological site. Maria Isabel Arnau, insular director of Heritage of the Consell de Mallorca, explains that "at the moment there is no open call for the acquisition of archaeological sites, as there has been in previous years. But, in any case, it would be the Montuïri City Council who should request its purchase".

At the same time, Arnau explains that "by being BIC, this archaeological site already has a protection that would prevent certain types of construction on the archaeological site". At the same time, Arnau says that "there is a second option for the Montuïri City Council, which would be the right of pre-emption or redemption on a possible purchase option by a private individual of this property".