The 250,000-euro sum is for improvement and safety measures, such as renovating the “parets seques” or preventing fires.

The Department of the Environment, Biosphere Reserve and Cooperation of the Consell Insular de Menorca (Menorca Island Council) will allocate 250,000 euros in aid for actions aimed at the properties along the Camí de Cavalls. Also to the properties that comprise its area of influence or its emergency access roads. The aid is for the promotion of improvement, safety and adaptation of the path and the elements that make it up.

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A call for aid for properties along the Camí de Cavalls

The call for aid is newly created and has been presented, to carry out actions aimed at improving the state of the “parets seques”, “portells” and barriers, road surfaces, mitigation of soil erosion, or adequacy of the roads that serve as VAEs (emergency access roads) in the Camí de Cavalls. Likewise, the call also includes actions to improve the compatibility of visitor uses with the agricultural and livestock activities that can be carried out on the farms, forestry work to prevent fires and to improve the landscape and functional coherence of the Camí de Cavalls and its area of influence.

“The overall maximum amount of aid and budget credit is 250,000 euros, divided into three lines of action, where each project to be developed must be framed in one of them. Line 1, with a budget of 140,000 euros, is aimed at improving, restoring and adapting elements of the Camí de Cavalls and other associated ethnological assets,” explained Simón Gornés, Menorca’s councillor for the Environment, Biosphere Reserve and Cooperation. “On the other hand, line 2, with 55,000 euros, is earmarked for forestry work and weeding. And the third line, with a further 55,000 euros, is for improving the road surfaces on Camí de Cavalls or emergency access roads (VAEs) to it,” Gornés added.

In the event that any line does not use up the budget appropriation, the remaining amount will be allocated to projects on other lines, giving priority to projects on line 1, and then to those on line 3. Precisely, the actions of these lines may be subsidised in full, 100%, with a maximum of 15,000 euros per action, while those of line 2, the maximum eligible percentage will be 75% with a maximum of 10,000 euros per action.

Each interested party has to submit a single application and with this application can request the implementation of projects from different lines, as long as they are presented disaggregated from each other, identifying the line of action to which each of the projects is to be included and their prioritisation.

“This is a big step in our commitment to the environment and sustainability, areas in which we are putting a lot of effort. The call has a very clear objective, and that is to help maintain the Camí de Cavalls, as it is a first class natural site. We want to help landowners to maintain and improve their areas, as we are aware that the Camí de Cavalls is one of Menorca’s main assets, it is a symbol of the Biosphere Reserve, and therefore, we want to set an example”, explained the president of the Consell Insular de Menorca, Adolfo Vilafranca.

“As we said from the outset, the environment and sustainability are very important to us. And we are demonstrating this with deeds. For example, during these months we have managed to implement investments of almost 14 million euros for water projects. We are realistically implementing door-to-door collection, we are allocating resources to improve biodiversity with a very powerful strategy against invasive species. At the same time, we are allocating 250,000 euros to animal shelters, we are encouraging electric mobility by promoting the installation of new charging points, and we are also establishing agreements with many associations, such as the Tursiops association, for the study of marine mammals,” concluded the president of the Consell Insular de Menorca.

The call for applications will be published in the BOIB in the next few days, after which interested parties will have 30 calendar days to apply for the grants. Eligible actions will be those carried out between 1 January and 31 December 2024.

The beneficiaries may be the owners of the properties through which the Camí de Cavalls passes, its area of influence, or the emergency access roads. Likewise, those persons who, without being owners, have the express authorisation of the owners of the properties, may also apply.

Applications must be submitted electronically using the standard form available at the electronic headquarters of the Consell Insular de Menorca (https://seuelectronica.cime.es). The forms can also be obtained at the Consell Insular de Menorca headquarters in Maó, at the administrative offices in Ciutadella, and through the CIMe website.

For more information, please contact the Department of the Environment, Biosphere Reserve and Cooperation by calling 971356251 or sending an email to reserva.biosfera@cime.es.