Institutional representatives, associations and residents from different towns in Los Monegros and other parts of Aragón gathered to demand the recovery of Aragonese heritage. The then mayor of Villanueva de Sijena and deputy head of the district, Ildefonso Salillas, stressed that the event conveyed “a clear message of unity around the defense of Aragonese heritage”.
At that time, some of the works had already returned to the monastery. The then president of the Los Monegros District, Judith Budiós, recalled that 51 of the 97 claimed items had been recovered, although 44 works were still in Cataluña. “I hope this unity will be productive and that we will be able to see our heritage returned,” she said.
PAR president Arturo Aliaga, together with several Aragonese nationalist leaders, at the Sijena demonstration. Photo: Aragón Press
The demonstration brought together representatives of the PSOE, PP, PAR and CHA, who agreed on the need to enforce the court rulings. The then PP spokesman on the District Council, Rafael Uriol, argued that «in a state governed by the rule of law, court rulings are obeyed and bind everyone», while CHA spokesman Chusé Rozas ended his speech with a forceful “Without backing down, and after the artworks.”
The then director general of Heritage at the Government of Aragón, Ignacio Escuín, also took part and announced that the opening dates for the monastery would be released that same week to display the 51 recovered pieces. The day ended with the reading of a manifesto calling for the restitution of Sijena’s artistic treasures, which had already gathered more than 2,500 signatures online.
The unity of residents, institutions and political parties defined that demonstration demanding the return of Sijena’s heritage. This is how Aragón Digital reported it 10 years ago, in the original article about the Los Monegros mobilization to demand the return of the artworks held in Cataluña.
