I think the key thing here is that it should have been fully excavated before the decision was made to trash it. I can understand the Mayor and CC not wanting an excavation in the town square for decades, but a realistic timeframe would probably have led to an economic bonanze in the area as well as giving us a chance to look for key info.
After all, think of how many of the key wars and intrigures started in or centred around SPain. Their records of Carthaginian contacts alone would be interesting since they had the most direct contacts (As major colonies) with them for a long time other than Sicily.
Bottom line is, if we excavate and it turns out to be a unique wonder of the ancient world, keep it.
If it isn't unique, retrieve everthing that can be grabbed, then pave it.
Sending the dozers in without proper excavation to ensure you get to park your cars faster is an act of wanton vandalism the Taliban would have admired.
Exactly... let the archeologists do their work, THEN pave it over.
Or leave it as a tourist attraction and put up a parking garage somewhere else.