In the Les Corts gallery, in the intervention that marks the main lines of the Consell’s cultural policy, the head of the department, Vicente Barrera, yesterday claimed the transfer of the Lady of Elx from the National Archaeological Museum to the city where she was discovered .
This explicit support from the new autonomous government coincided with the presentation by the Elche City Council of a report that aims to provide arguments that distort the will expressed until now by the Ministry of Culture and its current head, Miquel Iceta, who until now have denied that the Iberian bust will emerge again from its refuge in the National Archaeological Museum.
The study by the Miguel Hernández University and the Business Circle of Elche and Comarca (Cedelco) indicates that the economic impact due to the presence of the Lady in the city would amount to 46.6 million euros, if the visitor figures for the year were replicated. 2006, when just over 384,000 visits were achieved during the six months of stay in the city. Of this amount, 35.3 million euros would be a direct effect and 11.2 million an indirect effect.
Supporting the study with his presence, Mayor Pablo Ruz, cited the “obvious and notable economic impact in the municipality with the presence of the Lady, but also the social and transformative aspect of Elche in terms of improving infrastructure or tourist campaigns.” Furthermore, “there is a sentimental and emotional aspect that cannot be separated from this equation, and that is the affection and affection of the people of Elche for their Lady.”
The UMH professors Marian Estrada and Antonio José Verdú, as well as the researcher José Antonio Pérez Bastida, were in charge of presenting this study, where they highlighted the economic and social impact of the Lady’s coming to Elx, her involvement in the sector tourism and job creation and the impact on people’s lives.
At the same time, this report highlights a series of recommendations such as the development of a strategic plan that capitalizes on the cultural potential of Elx with the presence of the Lady, in addition to creating a cultural itinerary and a tourist ecosystem with the bust as the main element. . But also the importance of carrying out individualized economic management of the Lady and at the level of collective action the implementation of an Iberian route where Elx is the starting point and the creation of the Lady of Elx Foundation.
For his part, the president of Cedelco, Salvador Pérez, assured that this report “will support the Lady’s temporary return with data” and that it is endorsed by the UMH. The mayor added that the report will be submitted to the Ministry of Culture.
The previous mayor, the socialist Carlos González, also showed great efforts to achieve the temporary return of the bust, especially because 2022 marked the 125th anniversary of its discovery at the La Alcudia site. But he did not achieve it, despite his greater political “harmony” with the Executive chaired by Pedro Sánchez.
The last time the Lady returned to Elx was in 2006, on a round trip that she made inside a safe at a constant temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, escorted by agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard. of traffic. During the more than five months that it remained on display in the town where it was found a little over a century ago, the piece was visited by almost 400,000 people.
The truth is that, after her discovery by Manuel Campello, the Lady took little time to embark on her first journey. On August 18, 1897, just two weeks after being found, the Iberian bust was acquired by the Louvre Museum. The sale of the sculpture caused great indignation in academic circles, but nothing could prevent it from being exhibited for decades in the Parisian temple of world art.
It was World War II that allowed an advantageous negotiation for the Franco State against the weak occupied France of Petain, whose government ceded several works to Spain. The Lady arrived on February 8, 1941, and a few months later, on June 27, she settled in the Prado Museum.
The bust remained in the art gallery until 1971, when it was moved to its current location, the National Archaeological Museum. Which since then has only abandoned twice. The first, in 1965, on the occasion of the seventh centenary of the Misteri; the second, in 2006, when it remained on display for six months in the recently inaugurated Archaeological and History Museum of Elche. Since then, with the definitive return remaining an aspiration that the city does not renounce, there have been several mayors who have unsuccessfully sought a third transfer.
