The Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, together with the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Francina Armengol, presided over the presentation of Finca Raixa as an environmental centre this afternoon. During the event, which took place in the courtyard of the main building of the estate, they were accompanied by the president of the Balearic Government, Francesc Antich, and the mayor of Bunyola, Jaume Isern.

The building of this emblematic Mallorcan estate, owned by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of the Environment and the Consell de Mallorca, has been rehabilitated to become an environmental and cultural centre, which will host training and awareness-raising activities such as conferences, courses, seminars or meetings of scientific committees. Likewise, institutions such as the University of the Balearic Islands or the Menéndez Pelayo International University will organize activities in Raixa, and it will be the headquarters of international environmental organizations with which negotiations are underway.

On the other hand, once the rehabilitation of the gardens has been completed, Raixa will open its doors to the public through visits with access to the windmill, the old chapel, the gardens or the staircases, so that citizens can get to know and enjoy the estate.

The Biodiversity Foundation has invested about 9 million euros in the rehabilitation of the Raixa estate, in addition to what it cost to acquire it in 2002. The restoration actions undertaken in the main building have been aimed at a comprehensive rehabilitation of the same, necessary due to the passage of time without continuous maintenance. On the one hand, special care has been taken to try to preserve the uniqueness of this rural building and, on the other, the equipment and facilities that will demand the new planned uses have been incorporated.

Among the works carried out is the recovery of façades and wooden beam slabs, the restoration of balustrades, arcades, vaults and temples, the paving of the central courtyard, the integration of the new roofs, flooring and carpentry, the recovery of chimneys, ponds, etc., for which traditional methods have been used and, in many cases, Craft.

As for the equipment required by the new uses of the estate, it is worth noting the integration effort made to ensure that the contrast between styles does not stand out. Among these actions are the new car park and the access road to the main building, paved in the traditional way, and the location of the air conditioning centre and the power line, semi-hidden among the vegetation of the garden. Integrated into the interior of the building are the necessary facilities for public use, such as voice and data networks, air conditioning systems, fire protection, lifts, etc.

On the other hand, the rehabilitation of the other existing rooms on the estate, as well as the historic gardens of Raixa, is planned in the short term, for which it will be necessary to recover ornamental elements, the conditioning of lighting and gardening work.