The mayoress of Calpe, Ana Sala, accompanied by the councillors of Culture, Guillermo Sendra, and Environment, Pere Moll, met this morning in the archaeological site of the Baños de la Reina with municipal technicians, responsible of the Territorial Direction of Heritage and the archaeologist-director of the site to assess the damage caused by the fire last Saturday that has affected one hectare of the area.
The damage is centred on the industrial area of the site closest to the Molí del Morelló and has not affected the Roman domus and baths or the Paleo-Christian basilica. It was precisely the affected area that was going to be the object of this year's campaign, which is currently in the tendering process. The Town Hall wants to convey a message of calm, as the Roman site has not been affected and the affected area can be recovered.
According to the archaeologist-director of the site Alicia Luján "the work of this year's campaign, whose project has already been drawn up and is about to be put out to tender, was going to consist of clearing, replacing the fencing and recovery and documentation of the industrial villa and now the restoration of the burnt structures will have to be reconsidered. The restoration technicians of the General Directorate of Heritage will determine the steps to follow, in some places recovery will not be complicated in any case we are waiting to determine the restoration process".
On the other hand, the area has been declared a micro-reserve of flora by the Consellería de Medio Ambiente as it has specimens of "Allium subvillosum", an endemic and protected plant. However, according to the municipal biologist "it is too early to know how the fire has affected the micro-reserve because this bulb is in the latent and underground phase and we will not know the real consequences of the fire until February, which is the flowering season. In any case, it was a surface fire, so we don't think the consequences will be so serious".
The mayoress, Ana Sala, pointed out that "I want to send a message of calm, there has been no irreparable damage, neither the domus nor the baths have been affected, from an environmental and cultural heritage point of view there has been no damage that cannot be repaired. This legislature we want to give a definitive solution to the situation of the Baños de la Reina. On the other hand, I would like to insist that no authority, neither the fire brigade, nor the sub-delegation, nor any other administration warned that the firework display could not be set off, no one at any time raised the possibility of cancelling it, it was a fortuitous accident".
For his part, the councillor for Culture, Guillermo Sendra, stressed that "there is no damage to the site, in two thirds of the site there have been no incidents, neither in the Roman domus, nor the necropolis or the waterwheel. The area where the fire occurred is a recent excavation and although the stones have browned, the technicians have told us that no action is required and that the rain will make the residues disappear".
Finally, the councillor for the environment, Pere Moll, stressed the need to "improve and review safety protocols for events of this type in the future. From an environmental perspective, the existence of the micro-reserve entails special treatment when it comes to clearing brush, and general clearing cannot be carried out, which is why the plot had undergrowth. As for the wind, there was an orange alert which does not prohibit firework displays and there was no warning, the wind was 20 kilometres per hour and the cancellation of an event occurs when gusts of 50 kilometres per hour are reached".
The Baños de la Reina site has been declared a BIC and has both public and private plots of land. It is located some 200 metres from the Arenal-Bol beach breakwater from where the traditional "Castell a la Mar" fireworks were set off. As for the existence of undergrowth, the mayoress herself has indicated that "we are constrained by the fact that it is BIC, there are a series of circumstances that make it difficult to act in the area, but I would like to stress that the Town Hall is doing everything possible to keep the site in the best possible condition".