The Ministry of Cultural Affairs has approved the processing of a 461,000-euro subsidy to the Consell Insular de Menorca to finance archaeological work at the public sites of Talayotic Menorca.
This is one of the actions provided in Royal Decree 762/2024, published in the Official State Gazette of 31 July, which regulates the direct granting of subsidies to various institutions for the development of cultural projects.
The Talayotic Menorca Agency reports that this grant will be used entirely for two excavation, restoration and consolidation projects in two of the publicly owned settlements: Torre d'en Galmés and Son Catlar:
- In the case of Torre d'en Galmés, the project involves the excavation of the central talayot and the structures attached to it. Subsequently, restoration and consolidation work will be carried out on the excavated structures with a view to their inclusion in the interior tour of the site. The budget for this project is €403,334.66. This project was already presented last year within the same line of subsidies, but this aid was not formalised for reasons beyond the control of the Consell Insular de Menorca.
- As for Son Catlar, the Talayotic Menorca Agency proposes the restoration of a section of the wall. This project has a budget of €48,369.75.
The conseller of Cultural Affairs, Education, Youth and Sports, and president of the Talayotic Menorca Agency, Joan Pons Torres, pointed out that "in 2022 the Ministry of Cultural Affairs promised 1 million euros for Talayotic Menorca. We celebrate that two years later 461,000 euros have arrived to invest in Menorca's archaeological heritage, and we are grateful for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs' commitment and support for Talayotic Menorca".
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs points out that, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023, Talayotic Menorca needs to implement the Management Plan for the property, approved in 2021.
In order to promote the implementation of the Talayotic Menorca Management Plan within the framework of the protection measures established by the Convention of 23 November 1972 for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, to which Spain is a signatory, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs is collaborating with the Consell Insular to intervene in the most significant sites of the property to ensure their stability. These actions are considered to be of
public interest as they seek to guarantee the preservation and conservation of the structures for the future.