The Generalitat de Catalunya has claimed more than 790,000 euros from the government of Aragon for the purchase and sale of works from the monastery of Vilanova de Sijena, declared null and void, and for the conservation expenses of the pieces while they were in the Museu de Lleida until their transfer in 2017.
The claim comes almost a decade after the ruling that ordered the return of the works and presents a paradox in a dispute that seemed resolved over ownership. Aragon recovered the pieces, but now Catalonia demands reimbursement of the money paid in 1983 and 1992 and the cost of maintaining them between 1999 and July 2016.
The Generalitat claims 420,317.82 euros for the purchase and 370,801.65 for conservation
The Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández, maintains that the Department of Culture acquired 56 works from the Monastery of Santa Maria de Sijena in 1983 and 1992. Of this collection, 44 were in the Museu de Lleida and 12 in the MNAC, and in 1999 they were assigned to the consortium of the Lleida museum.
The ruling issued in 2015 declared the purchase and sale contracts null and void, recognized the ownership of the pieces to the Order of Saint John of the Monastery of Sijena, and ordered their return.
Now, the Government is requesting the restitution of 420,317.82 euros for the annulled contracts. This amount includes the updated price of the 1983 purchase, set at 218,227.5 euros, and that of 1992, at 202,090.31 euros.
To this figure, it adds 370,801.65 euros for the costs of conservation and preservation of the works in the Museu de Lleida between 1999 and July 2016, updated with the CPI.
The document sent to Aragon proposes direct negotiation between the parties within a period of 10 calendar days. If there is no positive response, the Generalitat demands payment within 30 calendar days before resorting to legal action.
Mar Vaquero rejects negotiation and the MNAC opens another avenue for the 1994 purchase
The response from the Aragonese executive has been immediate. The vice-president of the Government of Aragon, Mar Vaquero, has rejected the proposal and has criticized the Generalitat for having presented this claim.
"It is a tantrum" in the face of "continuous loss of reason" and the "derailment in which the Government of the Generalitat has fallen is delirious" - Mar Vaquero, vice-president of the Government of Aragon
Vaquero also spoke of "unjustified attacks" and added that the Aragonese executive "pities that Illa has to get involved in these matters."
In parallel, the MNAC has initiated another move linked to the same heritage dispute. The museum has sent a burofax to the Order of St. John of Santa María de Sijena, the Order of Malta, the Bishopric of Barbastro Monzón, and Virginia Calatayud Aleixandre.
In that document, the MNAC proposes to open good-faith negotiations on the economic consequences of the nullity of the sale contract of June 1994. The museum claims the refund of the price it paid and the payment of the maintenance and conservation expenses for those works, although it has not yet set a figure because it assures that it must first determine the exact amount.