The Council of Mallorca's heritage department is to initiate the process for protecting the old power station in Alcanada (Alcudia) as an asset in the cultural interest (BIC). This will also apply to the Poblat Gesa opposite the power station which used to be for workers at the power station. Alcudia town hall will therefore be asked to approve a special plan that allows both sites to be restored by assigning new uses while at the same time maintaining the essence of the industrial past.
The declaration of protected status has taken seven years, during which time there has been a request for demolition from Endesa, which owns the power station and used to own the Poblat before selling it for redevelopment. A technical report from the heritage department is due to be ratified on Tuesday. The main building at the power station will be classified as a monument, and the effect of the declaration will be that it can enable plans for the power station to be redeveloped as the European centre for the decarbonisation of the sea. This plan, which has the title AlcudiaTechMar, is a strategic project to be financed with EU Next Generation funds and is supported by the town hall, the Balearic government and the University of the Balearic Islands.
Kika Coll, the director for heritage at the Council of Mallorca recognises that the proposal for the declaration of the BIC, which dates from 2015, has been "a complex issue". This has been due to its unique nature, the scale of the site and Endesa's interests.
The heritage department will prioritise preservation of a complex that is "unique to Mallorca and to the state". Restoration will have to take account of factors such as the removal of asbestos. Among features subject to protection will be the main building, the turbines, the clock and the chimneys. The Poblat Gesa as a whole will have the same protection. The intention, Coll adds, is to give viability to the conversion of the complex by preserving enough of it as possible.