/ Town Hall
Thursday 10th March 2022
THE GALATZÓ ESTATE RECOVERS THE TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL OLIVE GROVE PLOTS THAT WILL HAVE A USEFUL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
A total of 7 hectares have been recovered in Llaneres, near the hydraulic mills, and in the Tramuntanal
One of the main elements of the Galatzó public estate landscape, and of the Serra de la Tramuntana in general, are its olive trees.
This type of agricultural undertaking is traditional and characteristic of this area and was one of the essential elements to achieve the declaration of the Serra de la Tramuntana as World Heritage, precisely because of its heritage and landscape value.
The councillor for the Environment and Ecological Transition, Rafel Sedano, explained that, precisely along these lines, Calvià Town Hall has carried out a series of projects to recover different agricultural spaces on the Galatzó public estate that have been traditionally runned but which are currently in a process of abandonment and colonisation by natural vegetation (garrigue, Oleo-Ceratonion), favoured by the time that the public estate has been without adequate agricultural management before its acquisition by the Town Hall. That is why it is necessary to recover agricultural areas, which were traditionally olive groves, vineyards, carob or fruit trees.
Olive tree growing areas were present on a large area of the estate. Proof of this are the plots that are preserved today on the Galatzó estate as a legacy from the past. Little by little, this type of cultivation was reduced in surface. The last areas dedicated to olive cultivation within the estate are found in two well-differentiated areas: Es Tramuntanal and Na Llaneres.
Thus, the actions carried out by the Town Hall have pursued the recovery of the olive tree plots near the eatate's hydraulic mills (Na Llaneres) and those located between the old road and Es Tramuntanal, which represents a total area of about 7 Ha, which over time has been engulfed by the advance of the tree vegetation typical of the Mediterranean forest, mainly pine and mastic, causing the loss of both the traditional crops in the area (olive groves), and the Serra's typical plot landscape.
For the recovery of the traditional crops of these plots and their landscape value, an action has been required to cut down pine trees, clearing reeds and bushes, and pruning of trees, which has been subsidised within the subsidies call from the Serra de Tramuntana Consortium for the year 2021, for the recovery of architectural and ethnological elements with heritage values, with the aim of recovering the agricultural landscape and its surroundings and the agricultural and/or forestry spaces owned by the municipality. Now, once the action has been carried out, you can enjoy the 'pedra en sec' (dry stone) plots, which were hidden by the vegetation. These actions have been carried out with the relevant permits and authorisations from the competent bodies, as well as in accordance with the Agrarian Law and the Community Agrarian Policy.
Once the plots have been recovered, they are incorporated as a useful agricultural area within the estate, and will be tilled and harvested again with traditional crops. Within the agricultural management of the public estate, the planting of new olive trees is planned, as well as the recovery of existing trees, promoting the agricultural and environmental management of this territory, compensating for the felling of trees that has been necessary for the recovery of the agricultural landscape.
In addition, recovering the traditional agricultural uses and spaces favours the conservation of the estate, responding to the abandonment that had led to a loss of the old cultivation areas, replaced by forest vegetation and that give continuity to the existing forest cover, which can mean an increased potential fire risk. Thus, the recovery of part of the agricultural land, together with self-protection measures such as strips, contribute to the reduction of fire risks.
These actions are in line with the agricultural and forestry management project that Calvià Town Hall, through the Department of the Environment and Ecological Transition, implements on this estate and is thus defined in its Strategic Plan, where an agroecology management system is applied as a sustainability proposal for the rural environment, promoting agricultural and environmental management of this territory and that responds to the objective of conserving the cultural and agricultural landscape of an estate in the Serra de Tramuntana.
