The Constitutional Court, the final letter to recuperate the latticework of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba | Culture | EUROtoday

In 2017, the Cabildo of Córdoba dismantled one of many 4 lattices of the Mosque-Cathedral in order that the Holy Week processions might match by means of its arches. Despite its excessive safety as World Heritage and Exceptional Universal Value, the Church altered the monument with the approval of the Andalusian Government and dismantled the distinctive lattice that the architect Rafael de la Hoz made in 1972. Three rulings, the final from the Supreme Court in 2021, haven’t achieved the restoration of the noble wooden lattice even if the court docket declared the authorization of the Board null and void. Now the citizen platform Mosque-Cathedral Patrimony of All has appealed to the Constitutional Court to implement the sentence and revert the monument to its authentic state previous to 2017 on the façade that faces the Patio de los Naranjos.

“After registering the monument, the previous bishop of Córdoba became empowered. One of his actions was to try to move the official Holy Week race to the Mosque-Cathedral. The latticework was an obstacle to this. Since it was protected, the permission of the Board was needed. The sectors in favor of this change pressured the Board and, once permitted, the municipal management with the argument that it would prevaricate if it was not authorized,” recollects Antonio Manuel Rodríguez, member of the platform and professor. of Civil Law from the University of Córdoba.

The son of the writer of the lattice, Rafael De la Hoz Castanys, additionally an architect, appealed to justice and gained the contentious-administrative lawsuit thrice, together with the Supreme Court, which dominated that the Andalusian Executive had violated two heritage legal guidelines. However, virtually 5 years later, the final sentence has not been executed and that’s the reason the citizen platform has appealed to the court docket of ensures, to pressure Judge Antonio Salmoral, head of Administrative Litigation 4 of Córdoba, to order the Cabildo to mud off the lattice, if it has not been destroyed.

The request for defense, introduced per week in the past earlier than the Constitutional Court, highlights the violation of the fitting to efficient judicial safety because the authorization of the Andalusian Junta to have the lattice dismantled, however not recuperate it, and due to this fact not adjust to the sentence, has been annulled. “It is a manifest, palpable and evident reality: neither then, nor today, the unduly removed lattice has been replaced, so that the annulled act maintains visible and persistent effects on the monument, which is located, mutilated in the eyes of all humanity, which is their titular“, highlights the writing. The latticework was already part of the historical complex when it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984, as well as its extension to a World Heritage Site in 1994 and Outstanding Universal Value in 2014.

Two years ago, Judge Salmoral opened an incident for the execution of the sentence and after admitting the citizen platform as a person, he expelled her from the procedure despite her work protecting historical heritage. In 2024, the Andalusian Superior Court of Justice (TSJA) alleged that the original ruling did not expressly include that the latticework should be restored and considered that the judicial route was exhausted because the Board had already annulled its administrative authorization. Last November the Supreme Court rejected an appeal for cassation, hence the recent appeal to the court of guarantees.

“Perpetuating the refusal that the initial sentence be carried out in an effective, material and real manner seems to be a clearly question of constitutional scope and significance, since it places our country as a place where it is possible to damage, alter or modify its most precious cultural assets, without the courts having the capacity to genuinely respond (…) It would be inconceivable that no physical or legal person would remove one of the caryatids from the Parthenon and that a sentence would be limited to annulling the authorizing license for such. nonsense without requesting the replacement of the exceptional statue that was improperly removed,” the letter summarizes. And to justify its presence as a recurring occasion within the course of, the platform recollects article 8 of the Spanish Historical Heritage Law of 1985, which acknowledges “public action aimed at expanding citizen legitimacy in defense of historical heritage”: “What is of all It affects everyone and everyone should be interested, so everyone should be able to defend it before Justice.”

Pablo Rabasco, patron of the Contemporary Architecture Foundation and professor of Art History at the University of Córdoba, highlights the artistic value stolen from the Mosque-Cathedral: “Rafael de la Hoz returned in 1972 to the unique concept of the founding mosque of opening and relationship with the patio, earlier than the arcades have been closed with Christianity within the 14th century. It may be very attention-grabbing as a result of it divided areas, filtered the sunshine, allowed air flow, however it additionally had a spiritual and social part of not permitting direct imaginative and prescient.”

The indignation among the many members of the citizen platform is obvious: “A very serious cultural attack has been committed against a monument protected by UNESCO and the perpetrators are going to go unpunished. The doors are closed to citizens to defend their own historical heritage and they are invited to ignore the heritage. Meanwhile, underlying this battle is the Church’s obsession with making visible that the monument is a cathedral and not a mosque,” censures Miguel Santiago, spokesman for the platform. This platform locations the previous Andalusian Minister of Culture Rosa Aguilar – former mayor of Córdoba – as the principle individual liable for the Andalusian Government ignoring heritage legal guidelines to put out the pink carpet for the Cabildo and for it to take away the latticework.

Rafael de la Hoz Castanys gained the authorized combat all the best way to the Supreme Court, however he didn’t request the execution of the sentence. Because? “It was a tactical move, because I believed that my position was stronger with the threat of requesting it. I was afraid that the judge would say that he had annulled the file and that it was not my responsibility, but that of the Board. I was prudent, I offered dialogue to the Cabildo, but we never reached an agreement,” he feedback by telephone with a bitter style. “The sentences against the heritage cannot be executed and it seems that everyone feels comfortable, including the Academies of Fine Arts,” he censures.

This criticism is shared by the professor of Administrative Law on the Complutense University, Julio González, who expenses in opposition to the judges: “The administrative litigation is not prepared to protect the historical heritage, it does not take into account the nature of the assets with great risk of damage and a difficult or impossible recovery. Instead of waiting for the end of the lawsuit, it should adopt precautionary measures to suspend the execution of the project and put the assets in a bubble.” The authorized knowledgeable cites the rehabilitation of the Roman Theater of Sagunto as one other instance of the failure of justice and considers that the heritage legislation of 1985 is “very soft” and lacks precautionary measures to guard the historic and inventive heritage. The knowledgeable considers that within the case of the Mosque-Cathedral, given its monumental relevance as an emblematic constructing, it ought to be the duty of the State. “In this case, the excessive weight of the Church was seen and President Susana Díaz was not especially active in protecting the property. When you separate the institutions, you give it a mantle of objectivity and less popular pressure from nearby interest groups.”

The Córdoba Town Council plans to repair the north wall the place the lattice was, however not its restoration. “It is an issue that has little coverage,” responds a spokesperson for the ecclesiastical establishment. A yr in the past, the Andalusian Government (PP) launched a million-dollar tourism marketing campaign that invited individuals to have a “fall in love” with the area, and included pictures of the latticework of the Mosque-Cathedral to encourage it. This newspaper has requested the Andalusian Ministry of Culture and Sports if it plans to revive the picket lattice, however has not obtained a response. Months after mentioned marketing campaign, the Rafael de la Hoz basis was born in Córdoba, however its latticework stays unrestored.