Open well covered on Montgó

An exposed well next to a Montgó road has been covered with a grille without asking the landowner in a bid to avoid another tragedy like that of the Costa del Sol toddler, Julen.

AN EXPOSED well next to a Montgó road has been covered with a grille, without asking the landowner, in a bid to avoid another tragedy like that of the Costa del Sol toddler, Julén.

The nature reserve management says the risk of animals or people falling down it made it an emergency that could not wait until they had made contact with the owner.

A two-year-old child fell 71 metres down a well shaft in Totalán (Málaga province) last month and, after miners spent a fortnight blasting tunnels in the rocky ground to reach him, Julén’s body was found.

He is believed to have been killed instantly by the fall, barely a year after his parents had buried his elder brother Oliver, three, who died from a congenital heart condition.

Julén’s plight was followed by the world’s media, and has led to a tightening up of safety steps around uncovered wells.

The shaft on the Montgó is on a plot next to the Camí de la Colònia, near Dénia’s Pare Pere hermitage chapel.

Bars have been fitted to it carefully so as not to damage the original, ancient structure, meaning it would not prevent a future restoration if the owners wish to take this action.

The conservation office found out about it through threads on social media.

Three cases of animals falling down wells in the Marina Alta have been reported in the past year – a sheep, near the Vía Verde in Dénia, and two dogs in Parcent and Benissa.

Happily, all three were rescued alive.