SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 7 Oct (EUROPA PRESS) –
Pedro Martín, the leader of the Socialist Group in the Tenerife Cabildo, has labelled the pronouncement made by the president and vice president of the Corporation regarding the “resignification” of the Franco monument in Santa Cruz de Tenerife as a “farce,” especially as they have proceeded without awaiting the completion of the file for its designation as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC).
He has articulated concerns that there are reasons to suspect that the outcome of the file may be unfavourable, suggesting that Rosa Dávila and Lope Afonso “are acting prematurely in support of the sculpture.”
The former president of the Cabildo reminded that during the last term, studies were commissioned from the University of La Laguna and the Historical Heritage Technical Unit of the Cabildo, which concluded that the monument lacks significant artistic value.
Pedro Martín expressed regret that CC and PP have already favoured maintaining Franco’s statue without waiting for the conclusions from the experts involved in the Cabildo file, which is yet to commence.
“Nothing can be resignified until we have the conclusions regarding the BIC,” asserted the socialist leader, who further criticised the president for having “pre-empted the reports regarding the relevance of the classification by the specialists at the Cabildo, and moreover,” sidestepped the Santa Cruz City Council by allocating a future purpose for the sculpture without consulting the City Council, which owns the artwork.
Martín stressed the necessity of adhering to judicial decisions and noted that the court has directed that the file be initiated so that the Government of the Canary Islands can, after reviewing the relevant reports, arrive at a conclusion.
He pointed out that the ruling does not mandate declaring the monument as a Site of Cultural Interest, thus it “is illogical to hastily announce the resignation, particularly when both the studies by the University of La Laguna and the Historical Heritage Unit of the Cabildo determined that the piece lacks exceptional cultural values. All signs indicate that we might anticipate an adverse statement from the technicians during the file’s processing for classification as a BIC,” he added.
The general secretary of the socialists also views the announcement by the Cabildo president as “incomprehensible,” given that it was made “without the technicians or the Government of the Canary Islands having been afforded the opportunity to fulfill their roles, without engaging with the opposition to secure the maximum consensus on such a sensitive issue, and without dialogue, not even with the City Council, the owner of the sculpture.”
In her view, “Rosa Dávila speaks of a harmony that is not evident within the corporation or among the institutions that wield authority in this matter. Instead, she has proclaimed a decision that undermines the essence of unity, solely for the purpose of remaining in the public eye, thereby creating more issues than it resolves,” he stated.