Isabel Díaz Ayuso comes to the aid of the Benedictine monks, whom the central government wants to expel from the Cuelgamuros Valley, formerly called Valley of the Fallen, and will declare the Escolanía managed by these monks as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). At least, its regional executive has started the process. The Ministry of Culture is “collecting information to prepare the report that sheds light” on 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 monks of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The regional administration assures that these choirs “have been responsible for preserving oral tradition over time and have played a fundamental role in the development of their religious communities”.
The person responsible for this procedure, Councilor Mariano de Paco, assured in an interview with the Servimedia agency that the Community of Madrid “has done everything it can” and that it is in its power to preserve the heritage of Cuelgamuros. “We cannot do more,” he said.
Resignification of the Valley
Following the same strategy as the president, De Paco attacks the central government, which he accuses of neglecting its functions. Ayuso’s advisor assured that Pedro Sánchez’s executive “let” Cuelgamuros “dismember”, that time passes and “wreaks havoc” on its facilities. “He lets it be destroyed,” he insisted, recalling 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 of resignifying Cuelgamuros and fighting the Francoist narrative. With this rule, they hoped that this space would acquire “an educational 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, research is still underway to find the remains of the victims of the Franco regime who were buried there without the authorization of their families. Currently, 12 people have been exhumed, of which 11 have been identified, in addition to three others from Borja (Zaragoza).
We are still awaiting the departure of the Benedictine monks from the basilica, which will be “consensual”, as explained by the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, after his meeting with the Pope at the Vatican. When the religious left, the goal was to reconvert the space into an interpretation center.
The conflict between the Benedictines and the Sánchez government has been going on for several years and Isabel Díaz Ayuso wanted to take a stand. In July, as revealed The debatethe regional president went to Cuelgamuros and met four monks. After this meeting, sources close to the regional leader cited by the same newspaper assured that Ayuso was “thinking about what needed to be done to stop” the “imminent march” of the religious.
Despite pressure from Vox, his government has ruled out declaring the entire BIC complex. During a parliamentary appearance, Bartolomé González Jiménez, the regional director general of Cultural Heritage, assured that the regional administration did not have the powers to do so, since this management depended “exclusively” on the State. Not only has the far-right party attempted to influence regional policies, but the ultra-conservative organization HazteOir has also launched public campaigns in this direction.
But ultimately, what the Community 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 monks 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 under the Franco regime, in 1958, by Benedictine monks. It is made up of 40 children aged 8 to 16 years old. “Their repertoire extends from medieval monody, notably Gregorian and Hispano-Mozarabic chant, to sacred and secular polyphonies from different periods in the history of music,” explains the Community of Madrid in a press release.
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 aim of contributing to liturgical celebrations after the construction of the religious complex. It is led 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 lumped in with the Benedictine monks that the central executive wants to expel 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 the leaders of the El País monastery choir.
With this decision, Ayuso gives a boost to the Benedictines who are in 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 housed the dungeons of the General Directorate of Security during the Franco regime and the designation of the writer Vicente Aleixandre as a victim of the dictatorship.
