On November 26, Talayotic Menorca will experience another decisive moment in Paris with its
defence of the candidacy in front of the international ICOMOS panel, the group of experts in charge of evaluating the candidates presented to UNESCO in 2022. The vice-president and conseller of Cultural Affairs, Miquel Àngel Maria, will be leading the Menorcan delegation.
This new test to be passed comes after the evaluation mission by an ICOMOS representative at the beginning of October, and the support given to the candidacy by the Balearic Government with the
visit of the president Francina Armengol, and the conseller of European Funds, University and Cultural Affairs, Miquel Company, this past Wednesday, October 27.
On this occasion, president Armengol and the conseller Company have toured the Talayotic town of Torre d'en Galmés, the largest Talayotic site in Menorca, accompanied by the president of the Consell Insular de Menorca, Susana Mora; the vide-president and conseller of Cultural Affairs, Miquel Àngel Maria; and the insular director of Cultural Affairs and Heritage, Raquel Marqués.
During the visit, they learned about the characteristics of the Talayotic village, where about 900 people lived. The town has three talayots, numerous circular houses, a water collection system and a taula enclosure. It covers an area of six hectares and is one of the nine areas that have been included in the candidacy to be part of the World Heritage List, a decision that the World Heritage Committee must take in July 2022.
Armengol has ensured that the Government is "fully involved in the candidacy" and has shown its "absolute support" for the team that works to make Talayotic Menorca, the only candidacy presented by Spain for a World Heritage Site, a reality. The president has also defended that
"Menorca is an example within the Balearic Islands of caring for the landscape and its past".
For her part, Susana Mora recalled that the next milestone in this long-distance race to obtain the nomination will be at the end of November: “in Paris we will be able to defend the candidacy in front of the members of ICOMOS so that the initial report that will be issued at the beginning of 2022 is a positive one.” This was confirmed by the conseller of Cultural Affairs, Miquel Àngel Maria, marking November 26 as an important date in the Talayotic Menorca calendar. “The visibility of the institutional support given by the Government today is very important, so that this last stage that we have yet to walk is successful.
We do not have the key, UNESCO has it, but we think we have everything in our favor to be able to reach a successful conclusion ”, he added.
The Government supports the candidacy and collaborates with the Consell Insular de Menorca through a subsidy intended to cover dissemination and outreach expenses or to carry out investigative projects on the sites. Last June,
this year's contribution of € 200,000 was approved, which added to the previous three represents a total investment of one million euros.
At the end of the tour in Torre d'en Galmés, the group went to the Grahame Pearce brewery in Sant Climent, in Maó, where Talaiòtica beer is produced, a product created in collaboration with the Museu de Menorca and the Talayotic Menorca candidacy.