Ayuso comes to the aid of the Benedictines of the Valley of the Fallen: his Escolanía will be declared an asset of cultural interest

Isabel Díaz Ayuso comes to the aid of the Benedictine monks, whom the central government wants to expel from the Cuelgamuros Valley, previously called Valley of the Fallen, and will declare the Escolanía managed by these religious as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). At least, its regional executive has started the procedures. The Ministry of Culture “is collecting information to prepare the report that illuminates” this recognition, sources from this department explain to elDiario.es.

In this same procedure, the Community of Madrid also wants to protect the Escolanía founded by the religious of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The regional administration assures that these choirs “have been responsible for preserving the oral tradition over time and have played a fundamental role in the development of their religious communities.”

The person in charge of carrying out this procedure, counselor Mariano de Paco, assured in an interview with the Servimedia agency that the Community of Madrid “has done everything it could do,” and that it is within its powers, to preserve the heritage of Cuelgamuros. . “We can’t do more,” he clarified.

Resignification of the Valley

Following the same strategy as the president, De Paco charged against the central government, which he accused of neglecting its functions. Ayuso’s advisor assured that Pedro Sánchez’s executive “is letting” Cuelgamuros “dismember”, that time passes and “takes a toll” on its facilities. “He is letting it be destroyed,” he insisted, remembering that National Heritage, which depends on the central government, is the body in charge of managing the Valley.

With the approval of the Democratic Memory Law two years ago, Sánchez’s executive began the process to resignify Cuelgamuros and combat the Francoist narrative. With this rule, they hoped that this space would acquire “a pedagogical purpose,” but they also wanted to recognize “the right of family members to recover the remains of their ancestors.”

Although the remains of the dictator Francisco Franco and those of José Antonio Primo de Rivera have already left the Valley, search work is still being carried out for the remains of victims of Franco’s regime who were buried there without authorization from their families. At the moment, 12 people have been exhumed, of which 11 have been identified, in addition to another three from Borja (Zaragoza).

The departure of the Benedictine monks from the basilica is still pending, which will be “consensual,” as explained by the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, after meeting with the Pope in the Vatican. When the religious leave, the goal is to reconvert the space into an interpretation center.

The dispute between the Benedictines and the Sánchez Government has been going on for several years, and Isabel Díaz Ayuso has wanted to take a position in it. In July, as revealed The Debatethe regional president visited Cuelgamuros and met with four monks. After that meeting, sources close to the regional leader cited by the same newspaper assured that Ayuso was “considering what to do to stop” the “imminent march” of the religious.

Despite pressure from Vox, his Government ruled out declaring the entire complex BIC. In a parliamentary appearance, Bartolomé González Jiménez, the regional general director of Cultural Heritage, assured that the regional administration did not have powers to do so, since this management depended “exclusively” on the State. Not only has the far-right party tried to influence regional policies, the ultra-conservative organization HazteOir has also launched public campaigns to do so.

However, finally what the Community has announced is that it will protect the Escolanía de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos, linked to the Benedictine congregation of the Abbey. The Escolanía del Escorial, founded by the religious of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, will also be declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), in the category of Intangible Heritage.

The one linked to Cuelgamuros was founded during the Franco regime, in 1958, by Benedictine monks. It is made up of 40 children with ages ranging from 8 to 16 years old. “Their repertoire ranges from medieval monody, especially Gregorian and Hispano-Mozarabic chant, to sacred and profane polyphony from different periods in the history of music,” explains the Community of Madrid in a statement.

For its part, the one linked to the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is much older. It was created in 1567 by Philip II with the purpose of contributing to the liturgical celebrations after the construction of the religious complex. It is managed by Augustinians and has managed to become one of the “most recognized choirs in the world”, according to the regional government, which also explains that it is “specialized in Renaissance religious polyphony.”

The Escolanía del Monasterio celebrates the decision of the Ayuso Government, but regrets that they are put in the same bag as the Benedictine monks whom the central Executive wants to remove from Cuelgamuros. “We would have preferred it to be awarded separately. And, in fact, no one has contacted us yet, we only know what has been published in the press,” explained Pedro Albert, one of those responsible for the Monastery choir to El País.

With this decision, Ayuso gives a boost to the Benedictines who have an open conflict with Sánchez. In recent weeks, the autonomous Government has also positioned itself against two measures of the central Executive on historical memory: the recognition of the headquarters of the autonomous Presidency as a place of democratic memory, since it hosted the dungeons of the General Directorate of Security during the Franco regime, and the naming of the writer Vicente Aleixandre as a victim of the dictatorship.

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