The Cabildo de Tenerife has ruled out requesting from the Government of the Canary Islands the declaration of Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) for the Monument to Victory in the capital of Tenerife, known as the monument to Franco, due to the lack of exceptional artistic values.
MAP | Complete list of the Francoist vestiges in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
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The president of the insular corporation, Pedro Martín, has assured in this regard that both the study of the University of La Laguna in this regard as the report of the Technical Unit of Historical Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands have been decisive, and defends that it has proceeded in a “very rigorous” manner.
“Beyond my personal opinion – I believe that all Francoist symbols that exalt the coup of 1936 must be removed – the Cabildo has made a technical analysis of the sculpture of Juan de Ávalos”, Pedro Martín has specified. And the report , like the one commissioned from the University of La Laguna, concludes that the monument to Franco lacks exceptional artistic values and therefore does not deserve the status of Asset of Cultural Interest, he stressed.
Both studies analyzed the historical importance of the sculptural production of Juan de Ávalos, author of the fountain, as well as its impact and repercussion on the historiography of art and its presence in the main collections and centers of contemporary art.
A technical and formal analysis of the sculpture was also carried out, of its formal and conceptual contributions in its historical context and of its repercussion and visibility in the main bibliographical sources of contemporary art, and it was concluded that the monument to Franco, located in the confluence of the Rambla and the Avenida de Anaga, does not have exceptional artistic values.
The insular director of Planning of the Territory and Historical Heritage, Emilio Fariña, has highlighted that the Cabildo, as mandated by the Law of Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands, has done what is appropriate “in scrupulous compliance with the law”.
Fariña has also stressed that both reports are “absolutely clear” and agree that the sculpture by Juan de Ávalos “lacks sufficient technical and historical values to initiate the initiation of the file for the declaration of Asset of Cultural Interest, with the category of monument”.
For all these reasons, the Cabildo has rejected the requests to initiate the file for the declaration of BIC of the monument to Franco presented by the Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts of San Miguel Arcángel and by the Association for the Research and Protection of Historical Heritage San Miguel Archangel.
Recovery of historical memory in Tenerife
On the other hand, the Cabildo de Tenerife has approved in the governing council a call for grants, worth 100,000 euros, for carrying out projects for the recovery of historical memory.
These grants are intended for the island’s town halls, which may receive a maximum of 10,000 euros per action.
This initiative aims to recover and recognize the truth of the events that occurred in Tenerife, by virtue of the Law of Historical Memory of the Canary Islands, which includes the right to moral reparation of the Canarian victims of the civil war and the Franco dictatorship.
The call includes the development of research, study and dissemination activities, the removal of Francoist symbols and the carrying out of awareness and dissemination campaigns.
The minimum amount of the aid will be 1,500 euros per action and the maximum of 10,000 euros, has specified the Cabildo de Tenerife, which indicates that the deadline for submitting applications will end on April 12.
All the municipalities of the island (individually or their dependent public entities) will be able to avail themselves of these subsidies and public companies and other municipal entities and associations are excluded.
