Overview
- The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid issued a precautionary suspension of the sondajes this week, citing urgency and the risk of irreparable harm to the monument.
- The government says the sondajes began on June 8 as routine geotechnical work for a resignification project and are not licensable construction acts.
- The court treated the site as enjoying maximum protection in its order, a claim disputed by regional and municipal records that say the complex is not listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural.
- On-the-ground activity had already ceased after a drilling machine was found vandalized and unusable, leaving the field campaign stalled in practice.
- The Abogado del Estado has three days to seek ratification, modification or lifting of the suspension, a decision that will shape the project timetable and likely trigger further administrative appeals and legal debate over which authority controls heritage decisions.