The Museum of Mathematics opened its doors in July 2019 at the Monastery of Santa María de Casbas, in Huesca. After the pandemic, it moved in 2021 to the Walqa Technology Park, next to the Planetarium of Aragon. This space has been a reference in the teaching and dissemination of mathematics and, during its stay in Walqa, it has received more than 15,000 visitors per year.
Last August it was announced that this space was leaving Walqa and moving to Zaragoza, to the facilities of the Institute of Mathematics and Applications of the University of Zaragoza (IUMA). However, it is not an agreed transfer, as it occurred after the lack of funding for the project in Huesca and the dispute over the logo, which the Aragonese Astronomical Center Foundation registered on August 2 with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office. This is what Julio Bernués, promoter of the museum, denounces. Now, the IUMA, the Royal Spanish Mathematical Society (RSME) and the Aragonese Society of Mathematics Teachers (SAPM) will present allegations and it will be the Patent Office that will determine the ownership of the logo.
According to Bernués, this logo was created in 2019, at the beginning of the project, and they did not register it because they did not think that anyone would want to “appropriate” it. He also assures that his meeting with the Foundation took place on August 20: “It is clear that before the meeting, they had made the decision to reproduce the facilities. And to do this, they began to try to appropriate the logo and the image that began in the Kasbas Monastery.
From the IUMA, they state that due to the dismissal of Jesús Pérez, the former director of the Planetarium, in March 2024 “and the subsequent inaction that endangered the development of projects already started”, a letter was sent to the Foundation in April 2024 “from which no response was received. After a brief meeting on August 20, 2024 with the new management of the Planetarium in which the future initiatives proposed by Julio Bernués were not taken into account or valued, it was decided that the museum and its materials would return to the IUMA facilities of the Faculty of Sciences,” they explain in a statement.
However, the Department of Economy of the Government of Aragon states that “the commitment of the Aragonese Astronomical Center is that the Museum of Mathematics will continue in its facilities regardless of Mr. Bernués’ decision to remove the material.”
Funding
The informative projects developed in this museum over the years have obtained funding from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) under the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 calls. Julio Bernués explains that the last FECYT project “collapsed” with the dismissal of the Planetarium’s general director, Jesús Pérez.
Bernués explains that after the departure of the director of the Planetarium, the project “died because the Foundation abandoned it.” He explains that he negotiated continuity with the foundation but that “I wanted economic security for my projects. In the agreement, we asked for 100,000 euros per year in subsidies. That certainly seems like a lot. In particular, we proposed expanding the museum project to other rooms and other scientific disciplines. A very ambitious initial proposal, and the truth is that we thought there would be room for negotiation and reduction of objectives. “We were wrong.”
Political reactions
During the month of June, Mar Vaquero assured that the Museum of Mathematics would continue to operate in Walqa. Despite the information made public, the Government of Aragon maintains that it will continue to work in the facilities of Huesca.
The PSOE spokesperson for the Economy, Marta Gastón, described the loss of the Mathematics Museum in the Walqa Technology Park and “the lack of empathy of the DGA towards the workers themselves who have lived through a few months of uncertainty” as a “leap into cold water.” The socialist deputy believes that “this represents the loss of an informative, educational and scientific reference.” Gastón stressed that the “credibility” of the vice-president, Mar Vaquero, is also in question, “after having fully committed last June to a genuine involvement, with the municipality of Huesca, to ensure the continuity of this museum.”
For this reason, Gastón indicated that he will register several initiatives to know who negotiated the continuity of this project in Walqa and, secondly, “we must know why there was this clash that led to its loss, there was a lack of information and transparency that we want to correct to see what happened.
The president of the CHA and deputy of the Cortes of Aragon, Joaquín Palacín, also highlights Vaquero’s commitment and therefore demands that “the Minister of Economy and Industry, Mar Vaquero, the mayor, Lorena Orduna, the director of the Planetario, Teresa Moreno and the general director of Walqa, Carlos Ortas, to undertake all the necessary steps to reverse the progress of the Museum of Mathematics in the city of Huesca.
From Cambiar Huesca – Izquierda Unida, they say they do not understand how, “having a former councilor as director of the Planetarium and being part of the Board of Directors that manages it, the City Council has allowed itself to be distanced from one of the most visited cultural assets in the city. They accuse Lorena Orduna, mayor of Huesca, of “submission” to Jorge Azcón “who seems to believe that the Aragonese reality only occurs in Zaragoza and that any improvement must be centralized in the capital of the Community.”
