Around 50 protesters gather outside MNAC to demand return of Sixena paintings

Around 50 people demonstrated outside Catalonia’s National Art Museum (MNAC) on Saturday, calling for the return of the Sixena mural paintings to Aragon.

The protest, organized by Aragonese groups, accused the museum of being a “heritage prison” and demanded compliance with the Supreme Court ruling that obliges the MNAC to return the frescoes.

“We are a village of 400 inhabitants, and we want our heritage to return to where it was created,” said Juan Yzuel, spokesperson for the platform organizing the protest.

Demonstrators read a manifesto signed by nearly 30 organizations and over 1,000 individuals, including both cultural and political entities.

“The painting is the skin of the romantic monuments, and if we remove it, we remove them from life,” Yzuel added.

Protesters also criticized recent MNAC reports by international experts assessing the risks of transporting the paintings, calling them “an inadmissible, desperate excuse” by the museum.

Organizers further accused the MNAC of blocking independent technicians from studying the condition of the frescoes for years.

“They have prohibited access to documentation and continuously placed both technical and legal obstacles to prevent the paintings’ reintegration into the Sixena monastery,” the statement read.