Aneto cross reinstalled at Pyrenees' highest summit after six months away — Politics and regulation

Benasque City Council used a helicopter on Saturday to return the repaired metal cross to the 3,404-metre Aneto summit, months after it was cut down and thrown down the mountain. The reinstatement follows a dispute over a temporary wooden cross placed by a young French mountaineer.

The cross of Aneto has returned to the 3,404-metre summit of the highest peak in the Pyrenees. Benasque City Council reinstalled the metal structure on Saturday with the help of a helicopter, taking advantage of favourable weather. The cross had been repaired by Villanova blacksmith Miguel Ángel Plaza.

This is not the first return in recent years. The original cross was removed in September 2023 because of deterioration caused by time and harsh high-mountain conditions. Plaza restored it over almost two years. After being displayed at the Palacio de los Condes de Ribagorza in Benasque, it was taken back to the summit in August 2025 in an aerial operation coordinated by the Guardia Civil and the city council.

Eight months later, it disappeared again. On April 17 this year, the council said mountain guides had warned that the cross was no longer in place and passed the notice to the Guardia Civil's Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (GREIM). The investigation found it had been cut at its base with a mechanical tool and thrown down the slope, though it could not initially be located because of snow and access difficulties.

On June 16, GREIM officers from Benasque and the Huesca Air Unit were heading to a rescue when they saw from the helicopter a structure half-buried in snow about 200 metres below the summit. After completing the rescue, they returned and confirmed it was the missing cross. They recovered it in an aerial manoeuvre and took it to Benasque, where it was placed at the disposal of the Guardia Civil before being handed to the city council for repair.

The absence of the metal cross also sparked controversy over religious symbols on the mountain. In May, 18-year-old French mountaineer Maël Le Lagadec carried a 35-kilogram walnut cross to the summit to temporarily take the original's place. The initiative drew attention on social media but was criticised by the Movimiento Hacia un Estado Laico (MHUEL), which asked the Seprona and the Government of Aragon to investigate the placement and sanction the mountaineer if appropriate.

The group argued that installing artificial elements in a protected natural area such as the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park could breach environmental rules and the principle of leaving no trace in the mountains. Benasque mayor Manuel Mora backed the young man's initiative at the time and confirmed the cross would remain on the summit temporarily.

Le Lagadec returned to Aneto in July with a second wooden cross after the first was also subjected to vandalism. That cross remained on the summit until Saturday, when it was removed to make way for the historic structure.

Sources: elDiario.es.