- This statement will allow preserving the ecological, landscape and cultural value of this geomorphological element of more than 11 million years
- The Moraig fault is listed as a Place of Geological Interest by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain
After seven years of requests, the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition has started the procedure to declare the Falla del Moraig a Natural Monument. With this, the aim is to protect the protection of this geomorphological element that is more than 11 million years old.
The opening of the administrative file already implies in practice the preventive conservation of the space, since it prevents any activity from being carried out that involves a significant transformation of its environment. And once the final declaration of Natural Monument is approved, it will mean numerous advances in the protection of the fault.
Among others, it will allow the preservation of both the ecological and landscape value of the natural habitats and the cultural value of the surroundings of the Moraig fault and the Cova dels Arcs. To this end, the city council and the departments responsible for the Environment and Cultural Heritage will coordinate when organizing and managing the protected space, as well as providing funds for its protection.
In addition, it is also intended to promote social function through dissemination, study, teaching and orderly enjoyment. In particular, promoting traditional hiking use as a means of getting to know and learning to value the monument.
And the area known as the Moraig Fault constitutes a unique geomorphological element and is cataloged as a Place of Geological Interest by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain. Particularly noteworthy is an overhanging rock wall that protrudes from the terrain where the fault plane and the vertical striations caused by the friction of the calcareous materials during their formation can be clearly observed.
The aforementioned fault, also called Riu Blanc, is a fracture of the normal Earth's crust (with vertical displacement) that occurred 11 million years ago, during the Upper Miocene. This fault sank the limestone materials and formed the Cova dels Arcs.
Over time, this fault and cave has been subjected to both the action of the waves and the dissolution of seawater on the limestone rock, which has eroded the material, creating other caves such as the Cova del Moraig, with its own elements. of karst systems such as speleothems. Within the latter you can find the main freshwater discharge from the Benissa aquifer, the Riu Blanc, which gives rise to an intricate system of galleries.
Already in 2011, the publication Geolodía dedicated a booklet to the Moraig fault and highlighted the need to declare it a Natural Monument for its “spectacular landscape, its didactic and informative interest and its scientific interest”, explained the Councilor for Heritage and Tourism, Víctor Bisquert. Later, in 2013, the Institut d'Estudis Comarcals de la Marina Alta (IECMA) made an official request for entry registration to the City Council, and the council requested it from the Department on two occasions (in 2014 and 2017).
Now, at last, it seems that this claim has been heard, which will give the value and protection it deserves to this unique monument and will help boost scientific studies to shed more light on its origin and geomorphological importance. As Bisquert has highlighted, “it will protect the environment from the urban aggressions that have invaded our coast for the last 50 years and will attract a type of scientific tourism that is seasonally adjusted and respectful of the environment.”