Acquiring the Alaro Castle finca is one thing; maintaining it is another.

Acquiring the Alaro Castle finca is one thing; maintaining it is another. | M. Azagra

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterAlaro30/10/2017 00:00
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The purchase of the finca which includes Alaro Council will allow the whole area - rich in heritage and nature - to be promoted for tourism and leisure. The Council of Majorca is acquiring the Es Verger finca with tourist tax revenue. This doesn't include the oratory, which belongs to the Majorca bishopric, the walls that belong to the state, and the hostel, which is Alaro town hall property.

The value placed on the finca is 1,050,000 euros. This is therefore half the valuation when the owners, the Ordinas family, offered the finca to the town hall some years ago. This offer followed an aborted move to acquire it in 1999.

Because there will now be full public ownership, visitors will have an enhanced experience of the views, the olive groves, pine and oak woods, and the old constructions, such as the castle itself and the thirteenth-century cisterns.

Challenges going forward relate to the management and maintenance of the finca. There is already an Alaro Castle Foundation that comprises the bishopric, the town hall and the Council of Majorca. Its president, Mateu Marcús, says that it will be important to ensure that there is financing. Some of the buildings badly need restoring, while improvements are needed to the management of the natural areas.

Also on the finca is an illegal storage facility converted into living accommodation. The Council has acquired this and could well use it for storage purposes. There is, however, an ongoing legal case regarding this property. The town hall is waiting to learn what the court's judgement will be.