The passage of DANA in 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 became 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, structured around three phases which will take place simultaneously, and which will have a budget of 8 million. The work 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 occurred in November 2023. “Since then, new leaks have occurred, the seriousness of which led us to act immediately, because their origin was not the same,” he noted. In recent months, they completed a study that determined that there is a “structural water management problem with the building, which affects not only the roofs, but more than 100 downspouts and which requires action throughout the property”.
Ernest Urtasun lamented that, since the construction of the building located in Madrid in the 19th century, the reforms have been “partial”, emphasizing the need to apply a “global and global vision”. Thus, the first phase of the plan consists of adding to the emergency action launched after the floods, a “complete review of the vertical and horizontal system of sanitation and water channeling”. Furthermore, he argued that the various interventions will be “sectorized” to “guarantee the normal operation of the BNE during the work so that it can continue to fulfill its public service functions to citizens”.
The second will be to implement new measures to protect bibliographic heritage. To do this, we will empty the equipment located on the twelfth floor, which was the most affected by the recent rains, and which contains the general warehouse. “More than 240,000 volumes will be transferred to the Alcalá de Henares headquarters before the end of the year,” he said.
Finally, the objective will be to broaden the scope of action beyond current problems, to prevent future problems. Thus, the Plan includes a new diagnosis which makes it possible to determine “all pathologies and needs at different levels, both structural and equipment manufacturers”, from which a new plan will be derived. “The present and future of heritage cannot be jeopardized with limited solutions. The time for fixes must end. We will act as leaders, with responsibility and with all resources in our hands,” concluded Urtasun.
