Sixena: the law of the strongest

We are merely upholding the law, says the Spanish government, which by the grace of Article 155 is now also the Catalan government. Naturally, if the Generalitat were still run by the government elected at the polls, the Catalan administration would have prevented, including through the use of court appeals, the transfer of works of art from the Museum of Lleida to Sixena. Which law should apply? If it is the Catalan law --and Catalonia has exclusive powers on cultural matters--, these works would be perfectly protected heritage. Furthermore they are not, in any way, works stolen from Aragon. Rather, they were saved and paid for via a legal contract, as recognized by the Constitutional Court itself in 2012. The Museum of Lleida has spent years working professionally in the restoration and exhibition of the pieces, which otherwise would have remained in a precarious situation in the Monastery of Sixena where, unfortunately, the conditions are still not adequate today.

Therefore, what the Spanish government has done is not quite upholding the law, but rather acting politically as the government of Spain, not as the government of Catalonia, and washing their hands of it because the law is the law. The Sixena lawsuit has gone on for years, and the fact that the resolution of the destination of these works (not that of the paintings) has come just now, in the midst of an election campaign and with the intervention of the highest Catalan institutions, is clearly no accident. It is the result of a political will that, moreover, could result in serious consequences for culture. Thus the State has wanted to have their cake and eat it too, getting what they want without accepting responsibility, because it knows that this decision could open a dangerous can of worms for Spain’s cultural heritage. You only need to consider the Lady of Elche, the crown jewel of Iberian culture: what arguments could they give now to deny its return to its city of origin?

Finally, the way in which the lawsuit has been resolved is less than exemplary, shunning dialogue and common sense, and stirring up a conflict between Aragon and Catalonia. That is why the transfer took place amid strong police measures, an unprecedented situation. There has never been such as case, with the museum community (and not just Catalonia’s) opposing it and with the nearly unanimous rejection of the people, because even the PSC and the Catalan PP, supporters of Article 155, are upset. It is yet another gratuitous and unjustified humiliation.