Spain's Ministry of Culture won't even return half the "Salamanca papers"

BarcelonaThe return of the "Salamanca papers" (1) has met a new hurdle. Spain's Ministry of Culture is only willing to return 238 of the 546 boxes of documents that Catalonia claims. The reason can be found in the ruling of February 2013 by the Spanish Constitutional Court. The tribunal decided not to uphold the appeal by the regional government of Castilla y León and green-lighted the return of the "Salamanca papers". However, it also ruled that the Catalan government must return the documents to their original owners. This is the argument that the Ministry is using: it refuses to return any documents if the institutions they belonged to no longer exist or if it's unclear who the heirs are.

Today Spain's Secretary of State of Culture José María Lassalle will submit a proposal to the board of the Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica de Salamanca (Salamanca's Documentation Centre for Historic Memory) itemising the documents, books, posters, drawings, maps, blueprints, flags, leaflets and cards that will be returned. "Eventually, if they only return some of the material, they'll be breaking the law and a state that breaks the law is a bad state. It's also an intolerable act of disloyalty towards a historic claim. We demand what Spain's own laws state but the Spanish government ignores", Catalan Minister of Culture Ferran Mascarell said to this newspaper yesterday. "We will appeal, denounce and join efforts with the institutions and civil society", he added.

Legally incompetent

Neither Mr Mascarell nor Josep Cruanyes, the spokesperson for Comissió de la Dignitat (2) (Dignity Commission) agree with the Spanish Ministry's interpretation of the ruling: "It's not up to the Ministry to decide who the rightful owners of the documents are and who is entitled to them", Mr Cruanyes said. "According to Spain's 2134/2008 Act, it is the Catalan government who must find out who the documents belong to and notify them", he added.

Mr Cruanyes added a further argument: a ruling by Madrid's High Court made public in May found that Carmen de Reparaz, whose parents and grandparents had to go into exile, can't have her family's documents back. The ruling states that if the regional government of Madrid declares itself legally incompetent to return the documents and the Spanish Ministry chooses to take the matter in its own hands, Ms Reparaz has no right to get the material back. Mr Cruanyes believes this ruling proves that "the Ministry is legally incompetent".

Today Mr Lassalle will present his new plan for Salamanca's Archive, that will see a fivefold increase of its collection with the addition of new items. They have begun sending to Salamanca the archives of Franco's Movimiento Nacional (National Movement), trade unions and the Spanish Communist Party. They are negotiating to add further items from other institutions of Franco's regime, the archives of clandestine social and political organisations in exile, the legacy of republican politicians and of people who were active in General Franco's dictatorship.

At gun point

The documents kept in Salamanca were stolen at gun point by Franco's army. As his troops occupied Catalonia, a specialised military unit confiscated documentation. In four months they searched 1,400 premises. Their mission was to gather incriminating evidence against "individuals and institutions on the republican side". Of all the material collected, 507 bundles returned to Catalonia in 2006. It was mostly institutional documentation. In 2011 a further 356 boxes left Salamanca with documents belonging to the UGT, the PSUC, the POUM, ERC and private individuals such as Francesc Cambó and Antoni Rovira i Virgili. Among others, the files of 43 Catalan local councils have yet to return.

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1 In Salamanca (Spain) there is a large archive containing files and documentation which General Franco’s troops confiscated when Catalonia was occupied at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The information gathered was used mostly to organise the post-war repression against the individuals and institutions that had opposed Franco during the war.

2 Comissió de la Dignitat is a Catalan grassroots group that has been lobbying for years to persuade the Spanish government to return all the “Salamanca papers” to their rightful owners.