A Palma court has ruled that the monument in Palma's Sa Feixina Park should be listed because of its architectural, historical and artistic values and therefore given protected status.
The Council of Majorca, which had declined to list the monument on these grounds, will be appealing the decision to the Balearic High Court. Palma town hall, which has approved the monument's demolition, says that while it respects the decision of the court, it does not share the arguments put forward by the judge. The town hall disputes its artistic merits and also considers the monument to be a violation of the law of historic memory.
Echoing what the town hall has had to say, the Council stresses its respect for the judicial system, adding that its appeal will be based on reports from the heritage department that are rigorous and which were compiled on the basis of technical, artistic and historical knowledge.
The Council's stance on the monument was challenged in the courts by the Arca heritage association and the Santa Catalina association of residents and friends. Tomeu Berga of the broader Sa Feixina Platform says that the ruling was a welcome one and showed that when citizens are organised, they have greater strength than politicians.
Palma town hall approved the demolition of a monument that was officially inaugurated in 1948. It had been built to honour Nationalist sailors on the cruiser Baleares who died after the ship sank, having been torpedoed by Republican destroyers in 1938.