On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 7:45 PM, Vicenç Riullop <vriullop(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
We have encountered an unexpected problem with
monuments of Minorca
(
http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llista_de_monuments_de_Menorca). There are
about 1,000 monuments, most of them of Talayotic culture (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talaiotic_Cultura), possibly with an unclear
demarcation between the categories of monument and archaeological area, two
of the categories defined for Bien de Interés Cultural
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bien_de_Inter% C3% A9s_Cultural). We have
contacted with the person in charge of heritage in the island council asking
for help to identify them and locate them as the online register only
contains the name and little else. His answer is that we must limit to 65
monuments that are accessible to the public. The reason is that most are on
private lands and they want to avoid spolation. He recognizes out of the
record that most are not monuments. I think they probably lack of protection
and I know the islanders are very sensitive that tourists do not invade
private lands.
I think it is perfectly understandable that the owners of private
lands do not want that people enter and destroy their crops for sake
of taking a photo of a few stones (I guess that's what most owners
would think). At the same time, it would be a pity to restrict to only
65 monuments. I think some compromise solutions must be found. For
example, indicating clearly in the list which monuments are in private
lands, with an invitation to be considerate. Or, if it was possible,
trying to arrange, maybe with the mediation of the chapter or of some
local authorities, visits to these monuments with the permission of
the owner of the land.
Cruccone