Villa Miralmar in Palma, Mallorca, which has been demolished

Villa Miralmar before the demolition. | Arca

Andrew EdePalma21/03/2024 11:26
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Villa Miralmar was built in 1926, one of the old houses of great character in the Palma district of Genova. The villa is now more. It has been demolished, and the Arca heritage association says that this is a disgrace and the consequence of an inadequate and out-of-date system of listing buildings with heritage value.

In February 2022, Arca requested the listing of various properties in Palma and an exhaustive review of the listing catalogue as part of the process for approving the city's revised general urban plan.

The request went unheeded, the association stressing that Genova is one of Palma's districts to have suffered most from the loss of old houses like Miralmar. "We regret the unsatisfactory management of our heritage ... and urban plans that favour the replacement of the original properties and the disappearance of the trace of history. Personal interests should not triumph over the general interest."

The site on C. Rector Vives is to be redeveloped with a luxury villa, the municipal licence for this having been granted in January 2023.

Another critic of the demolition is Més councillor Neus Truyol. She is demanding an investigation into the demolition, saying that the facade of the building should have been preserved at the very least. Urban planning was her responsibility between 2019 and 2023, but the town hall couldn't refuse the licence for redevelopment of the site. However, she says a specific order for protection (POD) should have been applied which would have required the preservation of the facade.