On Monday 1 December, Torrevieja historian and writer Sergio Boj Bri has filed a personal request with the Conselleria de Cultura of the Generalitat Valenciana to open proceedings to declare the Canal de El Acequión a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC), as a conjunto histórico. The canal, authorised in 1389 by King John I of Aragon to feed an inland lagoon now known as the Laguna Rosa, was completed in 1482 with financing from the notary and merchant Luis de Santángel.

The site preserves a notable sixteenth‑century bridge built by architects influenced by the Italian Renaissance; its design has been linked to models described by Sebastiano Serlio. Despite this, more than one kilometre of the archaeological ensemble is hidden beneath vegetation and is affected by waste dumping, uncontrolled animal colonies, insect and rodent plagues, vandalism, sediment build‑up and structural detachment, with no specific protection in place.

The administrative process opened by the application may last around fifteen months before a final decision. During that time the site will receive provisional protection under Spanish Heritage Law (Ley 16/1985), which offers legal safeguards for the canal and its immediate surroundings. Boj, a Doctor in Fine Arts and specialist in preventive conservation, has said he acted as a citizen and heritage professional because of perceived administrative inaction and to avoid irreversible loss; he has emphasised that cultural protection must be depoliticised.