Nearly twenty years ago, significant improvements were made in the Albera mountain range, including the paving of the road section between Mas Pils and Coll de Banyuls, connecting Rabós d'Empordà with Banyuls. This project enhanced the cross-border connection, a historic route with a dramatic past linked to exile and retreat, and with potential for linking both sides of the range.
The road improvement was driven by the logic of connecting with paved routes on both sides, following the French example. Traffic increased immediately in both directions, facilitating tourism, shopping, and short trips. Later, during the pandemic, French authorities temporarily closed the pass, but the local community worked to restore normalcy.
A more complex intervention focused on Sant Quirze de Colera, where the access road to the medieval monastery was paved and electricity was supplied. This required negotiations with the Department of Environment to include wildlife protection measures, such as Canadian crossings and side protections for the Albera tortoise.
Despite efforts to make the monumental complex, declared a cultural asset of national interest and restored through various campaigns, visitable, the current mayor of Rabós d'Empordà, Maria Teresa Ginjaume, has alerted to the state of neglect and vandalism. Photographs show broken protections, vandalized electrical boxes, and unfinished work.
It is considered that a small municipality like Rabós d'Empordà cannot manage a monument of such magnitude. Given the condition of Sant Quirze de Colera, in contrast to the management of Sant Pere de Rodes and Vilabertran, a call is made for concerted action for the integral salvation of the monument.
The emergency at Sant Quirze concerns the Rabós Town Council, the Alt Empordà County Council, the Girona Provincial Council, and the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Joint action is needed with an economic framework for ordinary management and funding for future rehabilitations, so that the monument can be integrated into cultural circuits without the burden of neglect.
