The Administrative Litigation Court No. 3 of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has mandated the Tenerife Island Council to start the process for officially recognizing the Franco monument, an artwork by Juan de Ávalos, situated on Anaga Avenue in the capital, as a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC), as stated in the court ruling accessible to DIARIO DE AVISOS.
The court recognises that “the monument holds significant artistic and cultural value, justifying its official recognition” and supports the appeal brought forth by the Association for the Research and Protection of the Historical Heritage of San Miguel Arcángel against the resolution issued by the director of Coordination and Support to the president of the Island Council at that time, Pedro Martín, on March 9, 2022.
Additionally, the recent judgment is based on expert opinions provided by Luis Togores and Santiago Milans del Bosch, upon the plaintiff’s request, and by Alfonso Ruiz Rallo, representing the defendant administration.
Togores, in his evaluation, refers to “Ávalos’s figure and the artistic significance of his work and the exceptional value of the monument”, stating that “it is a piece deserving the BIC classification, being unique in its placement, with artistic quality due to the dual sculpture of an angel and a friar.”
Meanwhile, Milans del Bosch argues that “it is not a creation glorifying rebellion, repression, or war, but rather one of notable artistic worth that exempts it from compliance with the Law of Historical Memory.” He emphasises that the representation of the peace angel by Ávalos “does not bear any symbols (yoke/arrows, shield, religious emblems or commemorative inscriptions) praising or even recalling the regime or General Franco; it stands as a neutral monument.”
On the other hand, Ruiz Rallo from the Council points out that there are no “exceptional values in the monument, as it is a sculpture that is essentially outdated for its era and lacks the significance that would be anticipated or that other sculptures considered relevant by the artistic community of that time period would possess.”
The ruling – which does not require the Council to bear costs – also frames the process in context, mentioning that on April 30, 2018, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Miguel Arcángel requested the Council to commence the BIC declaration process for the Historical Heritage of the Canary Islands, with Monument status, for Ávalos’s work, asserting it should be safeguarded “not just for its artistic merits, but for being the only one in existence in the Canary Islands by this artist.”
On May 18, 2018, the Island Commission for Historical Heritage agreed to await the evaluation of this work’s compliance with the Law of Historical Memory. On February 12, 2020, the association asked the Council to declare it a BIC until the Island Corporation was directed to issue a resolution by the judgment of January 31, 2022. In February 2024, the Supreme Court confirmed the interim protection of the monument and dismissed the appeal lodged by the Council against the decision made by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands in January 2023 to safeguard the sculpture, preventing its removal until the judicial process on its potential recognition as a BIC was resolved.
