The passage of DANA through the Community of Madrid caused flooding and leaks at the headquarters of the National Library at the end of October. The heavy rains caused, according to the UGT union, that “quite a few” books had become wet: “It looked like a swimming pool.” Ernest Urtasun announced this Thursday before the Culture Commission of the Congress of Deputies his Action Plan to prevent and protect heritage, articulated around three phases that will be carried out simultaneously, and which will be endowed with 8 million budget. The works will last approximately two and a half years.
The Minister of Culture recalled that one of the first actions after taking office almost a year ago was to invest 1.9 million euros to repair the damage caused to the BNE by the storm that occurred in November 2023. “Since then, new leaks have occurred, the severity of which led us to act immediately, since their origin was not the same,” he noted. In recent months they have carried out a study that has determined that there is a “structural problem with the building’s water management, which affects not only the roofs, but more than 100 downspouts and which requires action throughout the property.”
Ernest Urtasun has lamented that, since the construction of the building located in Madrid in the 19th century, the reforms have been “partial”, underlining the need to apply a “comprehensive and overall vision”. Hence, the first phase of the plan is to add to the emergency action that was launched after the floods, a “comprehensive review of the vertical and horizontal water sanitation and channeling system.” In addition, he has advanced that the different interventions will be “sectorized” to “guarantee the normal functioning of the BNE during the works to ensure that it can continue to fulfill its functions of public service to citizens.”
The second will be to implement new measures to protect the bibliographic heritage. To do this, the material located on the twelfth floor will be emptied, which was the most affected by the last rains, and which contains the general warehouse. “More than 240,000 volumes are going to be relocated to the Alcalá de Henares headquarters before the end of the year,” he reported.
Finally, the objective will be to broaden the scope beyond current problems, to prevent future problems. Hence, the Plan includes a new diagnosis that allows determining “all pathologies and needs at various levels, both structural and equipment”, from which a new plan will be derived. “The present and future of heritage cannot be put at risk with limited solutions. The time for patching must end. We will act as leaders, with responsibility and with all the resources in our hands,” Urtasun concluded.
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