Mallorca's 'pedra en sec' listed as UNESCO heritage

The UNESCO committee in charge of safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity met yesterday in Mauritius to decide which candidacies made it into their list. The art of dry stone walling, or 'pedra en sec' in Mallorquín, was one of the chosen ones.

Greece and Cyprus started the project to include this ancient building technique in UNESCO's List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Croatia, France, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland and Spain joined after. Six Spanish regions are included in UNESCO's declaration, including Cataluña, Valencia, Aragón, Extremadura, Andalucía, Canarias, Galicia, Asturias and the Balearic Islands.

Dry-stone walling or 'pedra en sec' has been performed in Mallorca for centuries and there are still around 200 'margers' (local builders specialised in this traditional technique) on the island. According to UNESCO, "The art of dry stone walling concerns the know-how related to making stone constructions by stacking stones upon each other, without using any other materials except sometimes dry soil."

The best way to appreciate Mallorca's 'pedra en sec' constructions is to hike the 'Pedra en Sec Route', an eight-day track through the Serra de Tramuntana that takes walkers along ancient cobbled paths and which can be divided up into shorter stages. There are also companies offering guided walks.