The path of Talayotic Menorca towards its recognition as a World Heritage Site receives the decisive support of ICOMOS, which in its final report recommends to UNESCO the inclusion of the Menorcan candidacy in its World Heritage List. After this last step, it will be the World Heritage Committee who will finally decide about its inscription during the 45th session to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September. In this case, the decisions of the Committee are made based on the reports and recommendations of ICOMOS. Now, nothing stands in the way of Talayotic Menorca to be a World Heritage Site.
According to the report, made public on May 10, Talayotic Menorca meets the required criteria III and IV, being the unique testimony of an insular prehistoric culture with an exceptional repertoire of illustrative monuments from the different stages of prehistory. The high density of prehistoric sites, their unusual level of conservation, and the unique constructions of Menorca —funeral navetas, circular houses and taulas, along with talayots and other structures—illustrate the evolution of the occupation of the island and represent an important source of knowledge about life during this period.
For ICOMOS, the distribution of the prehistoric sites in the agropastoral landscape of Menorca illustrates a spatial organisation that, due to the preservation of large amounts of evidence, is still readable to a large extent, showing visual interconnections between cyclopean structures as well as potential sacred, symbolic and political connotations.
Positive reformulation of the candidacy
ICOMOS appreciates the substantial work done by the State Party to reformulate the previously submitted nomination, as requested by the World Heritage Committee in 2017. According to the report, the research and
documentation in support of the nomination is thorough, including the rationale for selecting the serial component parts, the delineation of the nominated property’s boundaries and the creation of extensive buffer zones, all of which were key concerns of the World Heritage Committee in 2017.
ICOMOS also recognizes the
“evident commitment to the conservation of this property by the State Party (Spain) and the local community”, positively assessing the state of conservation of the sites and the legal protection they have, based on heritage designations, protected natural areas and the insular territorial ordering system.
The management system based on the creation of a participatory and inclusive coordinating entity, the Talayotic Menorca Agency, and the recently approved management plan for the nominated serial property provide a basis for the appropriate management of the nominated property, according to ICOMOS.
ICOMOS is one of the advisory bodies on which the World Heritage Committee relies in the fulfillment of its functions. It is in charge of evaluating the new applications, as has been the case of Talayotic Menorca, and monitors the state of conservation of the properties.