In a ruling, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) forces the Community of Madrid to “reason” because it does not want to declare the Valley of the Fallen an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), considering that individuals who request it have the right to obtain “an express and reasoned response” on whether or not the initiation of the file is appropriate.
In the resolution, to which Europa Press had access, the magistrates partially uphold the appeal filed by the Association for the Defense of the Valley of the Fallen against the presumed dismissal of the application submitted to the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Community of Madrid for the initiation of the procedure for declaring the Monumental Complex of the Valley of the Fallen as an Asset of Cultural Interest.
The Chamber agrees to order the defendant Administration to make a reasoned decision on the appropriateness of initiating the requested procedure and notify its decision to the appellant association. This ruling is subject to appeal.
The Community of Madrid alleged in the procedure that “it does not have the authority to declare BIC a cultural asset assigned to a service under the jurisdiction of the State.”
The magistrates now state that individuals, although they may request such a declaration, “do not have a subjective right to obtain the declaration as a BIC, nor even to necessarily initiate the prior file in accordance with what is requested.”
However, the Chamber then states that it is “undoubted that those individuals who can request the declaration do have the right to obtain an express and reasoned response as to whether or not the initiation of the file is appropriate.”
A response in which “the possible concurrence of a relevant value of the property contemplated in the application, with reference to its historical, artistic, architectural or landscape values, is examined in light of the appropriate technical criteria, at least ‘prima facie’, deciding, consequently, whether or not that initiation is appropriate.”
According to the Spanish Historical Heritage Law, the autonomous communities have the authority to declare BIC to that property that, being located in their territory, enjoys historical or cultural value, as long as they have assumed that competence statutorily – as is the case of the Community of Madrid– and is not expressly attributed to the State, is not related to the defense against plundering and illicit export, is assigned to a public service managed by the State or is part of the National Heritage.
