The 95th Historical Heritage Council was held on Friday, January 17 in Murcia, of the General Directorate of Culture and Cultural Heritage, where the candidacies of the different participating countries have been presented to qualify for the indicative list, an essential previous step to qualify for being declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, among which are the rock engravings of the island of La Palma. The proposal has been promoted by the Government of the Canary Islands and the Island Council of La Palma, and was fully approved by all the autonomous communities and cities in this Historical Heritage Council. The rock engravings of the island of La Palma are already part of the Indicative List of Spain.
The Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the island of La Palma, Héctor Izquierdo Triana, highlighted the interest and good work of all public administrations in favor of the rock engravings of La Palma and thus opt for “having the prestige and recognition they deserve”. It is an “important cultural and tourist attraction for the island” but above all a “new tool to preserve our history”.
This proposal has been presented by the Canary Islands, supported and defended by the retired professor of Prehistory of the University of La Laguna, Juan Francisco Navarro, and Jorge Pais, inspector of Historical Heritage of the Island Council of La Palma, who, persisted and reiterated that these goods represent the greatest graphic and symbolic expression of the aboriginal past of the island with 520 stations of rock engravings scattered throughout the island territory.