The Civil Chamber confirms Aragonese ownership and orders the MNAC to return the artworks to the monastery of Villanueva de Sijena, after years of litigation between Aragon and Catalonia.
The Supreme Court has issued a final ruling on one of the longest and most symbolic property conflicts in Spain: the restitution of the mural paintings from the Monastery of Sijena (Huesca). The resolution from the Civil Chamber confirms that the artworks must be returned to their place of origin by the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), which has kept them since they were taken during the Civil War.
The ruling fully supports the criteria established by the Provincial Court of Huesca, which in 2020 upheld the decision of the Court of First Instance No. 2 of Huesca issued in 2016, which declared the Aragonese ownership of the paintings and ordered their return to the Monastery of Villanueva de Sijena. The artworks, of great artistic value and considered a jewel of Spanish Romanesque art, were extracted under precarious conditions by the Catalan official José Gudiol at the beginning of the armed conflict in 1936.
The high court rejects all arguments put forth by the Generalitat of Catalonia and the MNAC, including the alleged lack of legitimacy of the Government of Aragon and the City Council of Sijena to act on behalf of the religious community owner, the Sanjuanista Sisters. According to the Supreme Court, both the community and the Aragonese institutions acted within the corresponding legal framework, even supported by a papal decree that recognized the right to exercise actions for heritage recovery.
Furthermore, the court dismisses the validity of the agreement signed in the nineties between the Generalitat and the prioress of the Monastery of Valldoreix (Barcelona), on which part of the Catalan defense was based. The ruling concludes that this prioress did not have legal representation for the Sijena community nor the capacity to transfer the artworks, thus invalidating any act of property transfer resulting from that agreement.
Another key point of the ruling is the rejection of the claim of procedural defenselessness by the Generalitat. The Supreme Court considers that essential documents to support this allegation were not formally submitted, and their mention was limited to the appeal document.
With this decision, the Supreme Court brings an end to almost nine years of judicial litigation concerning pieces that not only have artistic value but also symbolic significance for the Aragonese community. The ruling strengthens the case law in defense of cultural heritage linked to the territory of origin, against transfers of questionable legality that occurred in extraordinary historical contexts.
The effective return of the paintings to Sijena will now depend on the material execution of the ruling, which obliges the MNAC to return them to the chapter house of the monastery, their original location. This decision represents a definitive endorsement of Aragonese claims and a turning point in the debate on the fate of historical assets moved during the Civil War and Francoism.
