The Government will move the Balearic Islands Sports Museum to the Molinar de Montuïri Ecomuseum

MontuïriThe large Molinar de Montuïri building, popularly known as the Ecomuseum, will house the Balearic Islands Sports Interpretation Center (CIEIB). The Balearic Government, through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, headed by Jaume Bauzà, a native of Montuïri, is working towards this goal. While nothing is finalized at this time, discussions for an agreement with the Montuïri City Council, the building's owner, are well advanced. Sources at the Ministry of Tourism explain that the initial plan was to finalize the agreement this February, but it will take several weeks to complete the proposal.

The Director General of Sports for the Balearic Government and opposition councilor in Montuïri, Joan Antoni Ramonell, stated that they found "the Sports Museum closed due to a lack of space at the Illes Balears Velodrome" and that they have been working to find "a suitable space that meets the requirements to house this heritage." "Thus, the possibility of decentralizing the CIEIB (Center for the Study of the Balearic Islands) and bringing it closer to this area in the Part Forana (rural region) was raised. "With this location," says Ramonell, "we are decentralizing services from Palma and solving a problem that Montuïri has with this unused space."

For his part, Councilor Ba stated that "given the need to have a place to display the GOIB's (Balearic Government) museum collections related to Sports, as required by the Sports Law itself, we can have a shared management of the spaces." Bauzà assures that nothing has been officially signed at this time, although the talks are progressing well and the agreement is expected to be signed shortly. Finally, the Minister of Sports assures that "this agreement will not only complete the [construction/construction/etc.] but will also ensure that the Ministry, through the Sports Foundation, will be responsible for its management. Furthermore, the agreement will regulate the use of common spaces by both institutions. Therefore, the management of the building will not be a monthly or annual burden for the Montuïri City Council."

In recent months, government technicians have already visited the site and made some improvements, such as putting the building's elevator back into operation. Thus, it seems that everything is on track for the signing of an agreement between the regional government and the City Council, allowing this municipality in the Pla de Mallorca region to host the CIEIB (Center for the Study and Research of Sports in the Balearic Islands). This center houses more than 200 objects related to the history of sports in the Balearic Islands, as well as a significant sports-themed library with over 14,000 books, placing it among the top five in Spain on this subject. The CIEIB grows year after year with the donations of sports equipment that individuals, organizations, clubs, and federations contribute to its collections.

Once implemented, the project will have two phases: the first will involve clearing debris and assessing the building's structural issues, and the second will consist of construction, completion, and commissioning. In any case, what seems clear is that the center's opening within the Plan wouldn't happen until the next legislative session.

El Molinar

The Molinar neighborhood of Montuïri has been the subject of projects, debates, and investments for nearly four decades, all aimed at recovering and showcasing its windmills and surrounding heritage. As early as the late 1980s, the City Council was promoting studies and competitions for ideas to rehabilitate the flour mills and transform the area into a space of cultural and tourist interest. Throughout the 1990s, the commitment to protecting the complex and giving it new uses was consolidated, with initiatives to restore structures, organize the public space, and prevent its deterioration. The turning point came with the Molinar Ecomuseum project, conceived as a unique facility that would explain the relationship between the landscape, traditional industry, and local history. Construction of this space began under the Plan D initiative of Jaume Matas's government, with a grant of 1.6 million euros. During the 2000s, projects were drafted, grants were secured from the Balearic Government, the Council of Mallorca, and the Spanish State, and various phases of construction were carried out. However, the project was not without political controversy and public debate regarding its cost, functionality, and management model. In parallel, the neighborhood has been the subject of other urban and heritage interventions: improvements to access and services, reorganization of public space, projects to make the Ecomuseum the Plan's Interpretation Center or use it as a cultural center, and initiatives to revitalize the area with cultural activities. It should also be noted that there have been financial claims and administrative disagreements related to urban planning agreements and the financing of the works. In recent years, however, the debate has focused on how to give the Ecomuseum a real and continuous use. It is an unfinished infrastructure that is only partially utilized. In recent legislative terms, the Montuïri Town Council has worked to secure new investments to make the Molinar neighborhood more functional and accessible to the public, and there was even talk of selling it to private owners. Today, El Molinar remains a space with great heritage and symbolic potential for Montuïri, but also an example of how major local projects can endure and evolve through consensus, criticism, and reassessment. It's worth recalling that in 2015, during the Year of El Molinar, one of the presentations at the conference dedicated to this neighborhood addressed the various proposals that had been made from the 1980s until then.