Approximately one hundred people gathered this Saturday at the entrance of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) in Barcelona, demanding compliance with a Supreme Court ruling requiring the return of mural paintings to the Monastery of Sijena. The protest, organized by the Sijena Sí platform, included participation from the Teruel Existe citizen movement, the Aragón-Teruel Existe parliamentary group, and Chunta Aragonesista.
The demonstrators called for implementation of the Supreme Court decision that mandates the MNAC restore the mural paintings to their original location in the Sijena Monastery chapter house. This legal battle began nearly thirty years ago when the municipality of Villanueva de Sijena first claimed the artworks. The Supreme Court ruling confirms all previous judicial decisions that have consistently supported Aragón's claim for the paintings' return.
Despite the Supreme Court resolution, which exhausts all legal appeals, the MNAC has resisted transferring the murals back to their original location. Protest organizers attempted to deliver a manifesto to museum management, but museum representatives refused to accept it. During the manifesto reading, Tomás Guitarte, spokesperson for Aragón-Teruel Existe, accused cultural institutions like the MNAC of contributing to "growing social tension" by ignoring "scientific rigor" and "historical context."
The dispute has evolved beyond heritage conservation into a political confrontation between the government of Aragón, which supports the paintings' return, and the Catalan government. Technical disagreements have also emerged, with Aragonese conservators claiming the MNAC paintings show "dampness"—an allegation the museum has denied as false. A Huesca judge must now establish a definitive schedule for executing the court-ordered return of the frescoes from Barcelona to their original monastery location.
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