Junts Pressures Socialists to Treat Sijena Like Guernica: Deny Its Transfer

The independence movement is pressuring the socialists to halt the transfer of the Sijena artworks to Aragon, currently housed in the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) in Barcelona. The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a ruling by the Provincial Court of Huesca, which mandates the MNAC to return these murals, removed during the Spanish Civil War from the monastery of Villanueva de Sijena and sent to Catalonia. The High Court's decision orders the relocation of these Romanesque murals to their original site.

Former Culture Minister and current Junts MP, Lluís Puig, has urged the Catalan Government to "request urgent precautionary measures from the Constitutional Court for rights violations" and to "stop this savage hemorrhage." ERC MEP Diana Riba has called on the socialists to activate "all necessary legal processes" to reverse the transfer.

The Catalan Government has so far opted for caution. The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has tried to balance the situation during a press conference from Japan. The PSC leader will not appeal to the Constitutional Court, respects the Supreme Court's ruling, but simultaneously urges not to damage the artworks with their dismantling and shipment to Aragon, which some experts, throughout the lengthy legal battle, have claimed is not technically feasible. According to Illa, the Government's intention is not to "obstruct the application and execution of a ruling," but to "ensure" that the paintings "are not damaged," he stated.

Illa has placed the matter in the hands of the MNAC, which is responsible for executing the ruling. The Barcelona museum's board includes the Generalitat, the central government, and the Barcelona City Council. The Generalitat holds more seats on the board than the other two administrations combined, thus wielding more influence in the museum's governing body. "The framework of the ruling is what it is," he stated. Illa seeks to prevent the conflict with Aragon from escalating, unlike during the years of the 'procés'. "There are experts who point out the difficulty of moving the artworks and others who do not," he noted.

The socialists are attempting to depoliticize the case. However, it will not be easy. They face a new hot potato, similar to the Catalan language issue in its dual aspect: the EU claim, which still has a way to go, and the school matter. The latter could explode in the Government's hands in the coming weeks. The Constitutional Court must resolve an appeal regarding regulations approved by Pere Aragonès's Government in the previous legislature, which sought to circumvent compliance with a ruling that mandates the Generalitat to ensure 25% of classes in Catalan schools are in Spanish. If the Constitutional Court's ruling is unfavorable to the Government, the independence movement will pressure it to ignore the decision. For now, Junts is already urging the socialists to act concerning the Sijena artworks as they did with Guernica. "The request to move Picasso's painting to the Basque Country was denied to protect the artwork. But the same criterion is not always applied," Lluís Puig stated on Rac1.

Meanwhile, from Aragon, its President, Jorge Azcón, who met privately with Illa in Zaragoza last week, intends to speak again with the socialist leader to request that the artworks "come immediately and that the Generalitat's cooperation is impeccable."

The Mayor of Villanueva de Sijena (Huesca), José Jaime Castellón, on TV3, has vowed that the issue, "beyond the political debate," should serve for Catalonia and Aragon to "embrace again as what they are, part of the same history." In his view, the dismantling and shipment are perfectly feasible.