In rickety, stacked boxes and a damp warehouse at the Palacio de la Cotilla in Guadalajara. It is the place chosen to deposit the fund offered by the family of the playwright Antonio Buero Vallejo to his hometown. There are some 2,000 documents offered by the son of the writer Carlos Buero Rodríguez which are sleeping in the sleep of the world and which are waiting to take their place in the exhibition space dedicated to the author.
The Municipal Group of Aike assures that “once the cataloging tasks carried out in recent months by the team of librarians of the Suárez Municipal Library of Puga are completed, it should be able to be consulted in the collective catalog” of Castilla-La. Library Network works and is available to researchers and users. They denounce that there is “no guarantee for its conservation” nor “security”, referring to various “incidents and attacks that occurred in this space where certain disciplines in municipal schools are taught” last year, explains the councilor Susana. Martínez and this, she adds, “does not seem to matter to anyone in the government team, neither to Javier Toquero, nor to Ana Guarinos”.
The Socialist Group expressed itself along the same lines. “Once again, Guarinos and his government team shame the culture and heritage of this city,” said councilor Gemma Mínguez, who clarified that the boxes “would have left the Suárez library in Puga, without any explanation, to be dropped off at the Palacio de la Cotilla, without any kind of foresight” and that they would have been first in “the elevator shaft, in the open air, accessible to all” and then “next to the newspaper hygienic as if it were old scrap metal.
Vox says cataloging process ‘not finished’ and asks to ‘leave the work’
The Councilor for Culture of the Guadalajara City Hall, Javier Toquero, of Vox, the party that governs with the PP in this city, accuses the PSOE and Aike, assuring that “they are trying to tarnish the work carried out by the municipality with in the sole purpose of criticizing and gaining political advantage. He explains that the boxes have been there since November 14 and simply states that the process of cataloging the donation “is not finished”.
Toquero affirms that a first classification was carried out and that they were moved to the palace to be placed in the room dedicated to Buero Vallejo. “We still have this last task, which is to place the copies in the office or place them in another space where they can be known or consulted at a certain time and for this we need a topographic list on which we are working Already “. .
He also assures that he will count on Carlos Buero Rodríguez, the son of the playwright, with whom he has contacted. “The only thing I ask of the opposition is that they let the technical staff work,” he concluded.
Carlos Buero confirms the call received by the Vox advisor, in conversation with elDiarioclm.es, but he does not hide his discomfort with the management of the fund. “The librarian explained to me that the cataloging still had to be finished and I told her that we had to hurry because of course the image we are giving is bad.” From time to time.
This all makes no sense! They don’t care, they go about their business and don’t care. This is a disaster on every level and the only thing you can do is tell them to implement it as quickly as possible.
Carlos Buero Rodriguez
— Son of Antonio Buero Vallejo
“It must have been three years ago when the donation was made, but they only came to collect it a few months ago and it is the work of Pedro Pradillo, because otherwise I would still have it “, referring to a municipal official. Room technician now retired and who, according to Carlos Buero, was the one who “threw the bait” for the donation to take place.
The cataloging and integration into the exhibition hall took more than three years – with elections and a change of government involved – and taking into account that the Guadalajara City Council has a prior inventory carried out by Carlos Bueno himself. “It cost me three months of work, but I knew that otherwise no one would do it. »
This is the complete collection of art books – many in large format – grammars, music books, plates or reproductions of paintings that Buero Vallejo collected, publications on Guadalajara and Castilla-La Mancha. “There are no objects, no manuscripts, but I added the entire collection of Christmas trees that my father collected.”
“We are all very burned by what happened in Valencia, maybe our eyes have been opened. This gives an impression… In general, and I’m talking about all political groups… All this makes no sense! “They don’t worry about anything, they go about their business and don’t worry about it.”
Carlos Buero does not hide his disappointment. He says “it’s a disaster on every level and the only thing you can do is tell them to implement it as soon as possible.” He believes that “each new generation of politicians is worse, they have less and less level and that is regrettable. I feel like it’s a systemic evil to go from the biggest thing DANA was to the smallest thing it could be with my father’s legacy, due to the inability to manage it.
I don’t know if the city of Guadalajara is aware, and it should be, that the name Buero Vallejo has more meaning than any other. I have not seen mental clarity in any government team in this city council
Carlos Buero
— Son of playwright Antonio Buero Vallejo
In 2016, the idea was that the Buero Vallejo space would be the first step towards a museum. That year, Antonio Román (PP), then mayor of the city, promised, during the debate on the state of the municipality, to “create a room dedicated to Antonio Buero Vallejo in the Cotilla Palace”. Today, the exhibition space can be visited daily, as well as on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
There is a heritage idea, on the part of politicians, who think well… that they are almost doing you a favor
Carlos Buero
— Son of Antonio Buero Vallejo
The great Spanish playwright and painter was born in Guadalajara in 1916. He lived there during his childhood and adolescence because his father, Francisco, was an army captain assigned to the now-defunct Military Academy of Engineering. Among other awards, in 1986 he received the Miguel de Cervantes Prize for his entire literary career.
“I don’t know if the city of Guadalajara is aware, and it should be, that the name Buero Vallejo has more meaning than any other,” says Carlos Buero. “I have not seen mental clarity in any government team in this city council.”
Carlos Buero focuses on the old idea of a writer’s museum in the image and likeness of those dedicated to other authors like Valle-Inclán or Lorca. “They are very profitable from the point of view of attractiveness for the municipality. Also in this case, Guadalajara is on the edge of the Madrid metropolitan area which has seven million inhabitants. “It’s an underutilized asset and the city’s strategy is lacking. »
He says he still has funds to give to the city. “I have 300 drawings that I have kept for the Guadalajara town hall since 2016, when Antonio Román was talking about a museum,” explains the son of the playwright and painter. “They never think that I can send everything to make puddings and put the funds in the hands of an art gallery, for an exhibition and for sale. “I’m not going to do it, but there is a heritage idea, on the part of politicians, who think so well… that they are almost doing you a favor.”
The playwright’s legacy is today scattered. A large part was sold to the Regional Library of the Community of Madrid and there remain 82 copies deposited at the Regional Library of Castilla-La Mancha, apart from what is in the hands of the Guadalajara City Council or what Carlos Buero Rodríguez still retains. In 2016, the Guadalajara Provincial Council also announced the creation of the Buero Vallejo section within the province’s researchers library, which is ongoing with little content available.
