A long, dark day for Lleida
Operation to remove disputed artworks from Lleida museum took 14 hours and began in the middle of the night while police response is called heavy-handed
It began at night, with police everywhere, all to remove the 44 disputed Sixena artworks from Lleida Museum and return them to Aragon. Despite the judge who ordered their return authorising force if required, the museum staff did everything asked of them and the protesters outside were peaceful.
The Mossos d’Esquadra police were the first to arrive at midnight, with Guardia Civil officers arriving at 3.30am. There were even local police present. At one point Lleida Museum was surrounded by police and their vehicles –including a helicopter at one point– all for 44 art treasures.
The pieces finally left Catalonia just after two in the afternoon, some 14 hours since the operation had begun the previous midnight. That was when the Catalan police arrived, along with Lleida’s socialist mayor, Àngel Ros. Later, local people gathered outside, angry people who openly blamed Ros and his party: “You and your bloody Article 155 have caused this,” said one, referring to the fact that the imposition of direct rule on Catalonia had put the decision on whether to comply with the judge’s order into the hands of the Spanish culture minister.
Later, more police came, with the Aragonese technicians and art removal specialists who would carefully pack the pieces in made-to-measure boxes and load them onto a lorry. It was painstaking and took hours, and always with the full cooperation of the museum staff, making the judge’s authorisation of the use of force unnecessary. Their final act was getting the Aragonese specialists to sign a document accepting responsibility for any harm the fragile pieces may suffer once they had left the museum.