La Massana minority files 23 objections to Alt de la Capa viewpoint project

Two opposition councillors in La Massana have filed 23 objections against the planned astronomical viewpoint at Alt de la Capa and its accompanying environmental documentation, asking the parish's governing majority to reconsider the project or scrap it entirely.

Guillem Forné and Laura Bragança, of the Amb Seny group, submitted the objections in two separate but coordinated written filings, drawing on expert input and concerns raised by parish residents. They argue that permanently altering a high-mountain peak cannot be decided while environmental, landscape, heritage, technical and economic questions remain unresolved.

A central point of contention is that the works have already been awarded for €892,148.54, including indirect tax (IGI), even though the environmental assessment process has not yet concluded. Forné notes in the filings that the awarded sum exceeds the tender's original budget by more than €160,000. The councillors argue the contract award should not make construction of the viewpoint effectively irreversible, and they want the communal majority to clarify whether its stated willingness to rethink the project extends to cancelling it altogether, rather than merely relocating it to another site. They also insist that public participation must have a real bearing on the final decision.

Among the objections, the councillors highlight the need for a complete and preventive environmental assessment, the lack of justification for the Alt de la Capa site and the omission of alternative locations. They call for a more rigorous comparison with other sites, including Port Negre, la Tassa and l'Alt del Cubil. They also question the sufficiency of flora and fauna surveys, the protection of sensitive species and the effects on high-mountain habitats, pointing to an estimated 300 helicopter operations to carry out the works.

Bragança focuses on the lack of updated meteorological data and specific studies of conditions at the summit, which sits above 2,570 metres, noting that the documentation relies on climate references from 1981–2010 and does not sufficiently characterise local wind, snowfall, ice or extreme weather. She also questions whether all structural and geotechnical checks needed to guarantee safety have been carried out for a facility measuring more than 21 metres in diameter and designed to hold 150 people. Forné flags a reference to a "wind farm" within the viewpoint's environmental impact study, a documentary inconsistency he says justifies reviewing the report's technical conclusions.

Further objections warn of undetermined operating uses, acoustic and light impact and the landscape impact of the infrastructure, and call for an integrated assessment of access routes and earth movements. The councillors also raise concerns about paleontological outcrops identified near the access routes, and criticise the absence of accredited geotechnical studies and of a genuine assessment in the context of climate change.

The two filings diverge on what should happen next: Bragança requests an unfavourable environmental impact declaration and the definitive denial of the project, while Forné asks the comú to abandon it and, failing that, to complete outstanding studies and guarantees before any work begins. Both propose studying the removal of old structures at the summit and landscape restoration of the area as an alternative to building the viewpoint.

Forné and Bragança urged residents to take part in the public consultation process and stressed the need for a collective debate on the future of Alt de la Capa. The councillors announced the objections in a statement issued on 20 October 2026.