What to do with the Spanish 'Stonehenge' that has come to light in Cáceres?

Baptized as the Spanish Stonehenge, the emergence, in mid-August, of the Guadalperal dolmen (Cáceres) due to the drought of the Valdecañas swamp has opened the debate. What do we do now?

This megalithic structure between 4,000 and 5000 years old , which functioned as a first and then solar temple, as a collective burial for prehistoric settlements, has opened a debate not only among the residents of the area but also among the thousands of tourists These days of vacation crowded in a region - that of the Arañuelo Field - that I did not expect that this avalanche of visitors suddenly.

The monument is in the municipality of El Gordo, but it has a better and closer access from Peraleda , a town of just 1,500 inhabitants located about five kilometers.

The final decision must be taken by the Ministry of Culture, which has already commissioned an analysis before making the final decision to National Heritage experts. At the moment they are divided between those who bet to leave the structure as it is currently located, that is, as since half a century ago (year 1963) when the swamp was built (that is, when the rains come or reopen the floodgates of the reservoir are again under water) or those who now see a great opportunity to put it in value, take it to a nearby place, take care of it, and turn it into a tourist reference in a region - just an hour and a half from Madrid - that It has many other treasures but that it has not bet on its tourist infrastructure throughout its history.

" It would be a great opportunity to boost emptied Spain ," says Angel Castaño, president of the Cultural Association 'Raices de Peraleda', which intensifies contacts after the 'boom' (a BBC team has been recording in the swamp) with the administrations involved so that this great opportunity is not missed for one of the most classic examples of the 'empty Spain' that seeks resources to develop and maintain itself.

Hundreds of families have lived directly or indirectly from the Almaraz nuclear power plant, which has already been expired. "It was always there, but only the experts, the scientists knew it, and it was not valued, also only in the dry season a part came to light, but now it is possible to see it completely and that must be taken advantage of, and These weeks are decisive when making a decision about your future, "he explains.

Unpack

The surprise appearance of this heritage jewel is not only due to drought. According to an agreement in force between Spain and Portugal, from the Valdecañas reservoir an important volume of water is sent to Portuguese lands every year.

In fact, on July 22, farmers - called by the agrarian organizations - gathered in front of the headquarters of the Iberdrola company in Cáceres to demand that they stop unpacking water in the Valdecañas reservoir, raise the level of reservoir water and irrigators and farmers in the area - some 600 - could take it to irrigate their crops and give their animals a drink, and that put them on a war footing.

The company recalled - in the midst of the protests - that the actions it performs in the reservoir respond "only" to the "obligations" dictated by the Albufeira Agreement, signed between Spain and Portugal. This agreement requires the delivery by Spain of an annual volume of water of 2,700 hm3, at the control point of Cedillo, before September 30 of each year.

As a result, the reservoir was so depleted that it has given the opportunity to appreciate without limit the hundred granite stones, many of them still standing and others lying down by the action of water. Among them, the oval shape of the main chamber, approximately five meters in diameter, stands out. In addition, you can see remnants of the twenty meter dolmens corridor that served to connect the Tagus riverbank with the monument. The entrance is chaired by a large sculptured menhir.

Danger of deterioration

"How are we going to miss this opportunity and allow everything to be buried again and nobody can see it?", Warns the spokesman of the association, who is fighting so that now it is taken to a safe place. Visitors from all over the world are arriving in the area these days, attracted by the discovery, although there has been no time to signal the roads. It is not easy to reach the swamp area where the dolmen are found and even some curious, clueless, even jump fences and cross cattle farms to anger their owners.

The passage is free and so accessible that the selfies next to the dolmen flood the social networks, with total impunity and with evident danger of the deterioration of the monument, to which at the moment nobody watches or protects from the dangers. "It is a small town, without sufficient infrastructure to accommodate all the people it is receiving, so public administrations must act immediately and not leave it under water again, that would not benefit anyone, but the The decision must be made as soon as possible because there are already indications of the beginning of deterioration of the structure, "says Castaño. You can even walk among the menhirs, which has led to the association 'Roots of Peraleda' claim to the authorities an urgent action.

In addition, the president of this group does not understand that "some experts ask that the monument be left in the swamp so as not to lose its context, when there is no context because the site was fully excavated and studied , and its environment is submerged between waters ", and surrounded, when the transfer does not take place or there are rains, of tents. "This environment, buried under water, has never been its natural place, except in the last fifty years, but we could return part of that lost context if they take it out and place it again between the holm oaks at the water's edge, as it always was If it stays in the water, in several decades not only its context will have been lost, but the monument as well. "

The debate has also been installed in Extremadura. The president of the community, Guillermo Fernández Vara, has announced the creation of a group of experts from the University of Extremadura to express his recommendation on what steps to take, while at the Ministry of Culture they study whether to catalog the entire site and leave it all as is or start a transfer and custody process to a nearby dry place to put it in value.

An old religious center

According to historians, this megalithic monument - founded almost certainly by the Celts - like the Stonehenge in the United Kingdom - began as a circular solar temple. Centuries later it would transform into dolmen and walled. Then, it was covered with earth, becoming a religious and surely economic center because this was the Vado de Alarza and here you could cross the Tagus, one of the few crossing sites of the Tagus from north to south, according to Ángel Castaño.

It is also documented that this dolmen was discovered by German Hugo Obermaier , chaplain of the House of Alba, in 1925 , when he spent a few days in the area. A great fan of archeology, he began digging for two years until the structure was visible, leaving the stones in place, but taking the remains to their country of origin. Among these remains were also remains of the Romans - like a coin - that possibly would have looted the dolmen.

Since its discovery by Obermaier, and for about forty years, the dolmen was in sight of all until in 1963 the Vadecañas reservoir was built and the waters began to cover it, with drought intervals during those dates, but never fully discovered as now. How will it be managed from now on? That is the great mystery as tourists continue to gather in the area attracted by a unique landscape, a real treasure discovered by chance.

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