LA LÍNEA (Agencies) One of the towns lovely squares, Plaza Cruz Herrera was remodelledn not long ago. The new fountain, or rather, the restored fountain, was unveiled with great pride - but caused gasps among many of those attending. Since then, it has been a war of words and accusations from all political fronts. What happened to the beautiful old Seville tiles that had adorned the fountain since 1928? They were apparently replaced by some made by the local pottery employment scheme, to the indignation of those whose opinion centres around the fact that La Línea will have its 141st birthday next July. The Councillor in charge of public works, Alfonso Escuadra (PP), agrees -for once- with the mayoral candidate Gemma Araujo (PSOE) in that 'it is necessary to conserve what little patrimony we have'. But Escuadra is unable to explain the whereabouts of the old tiles, or even why they were removed in the first place and has opened an internal investigation to find them. That was about six weeks ago and the tiles refuse to appear. Indeed, he maintains that any restorer -and there is one on the municipal payroll- knows that it is "unnecessary to remove them, that they should be restored in situ.">
"Somebody has to pay for this," says Alfonso Escuadra, who is careful to point out that his department and the employment scheme workshop were carefully kept apart.
At the bottom of the fountain are now a series of had painted tiles instead of the 1928 antiques that were made by the cuerda seca method (Can any of our potters tell us what this technique is called in English?). It is true, adds the councillor, that they were in a very bad state but even "something that is in a million pieces can be restored."
Gemma Araujo, for her part, has asked many questions at Council sessions, her party has never had a clear answer. She fears that the tiles "will never reaappear, which is a shame because La Línea is a young town lacking in a rich heritage." She says that the replacement tiles "have nothing to do" with the old ones and cannot understand why the Council made the decision to replace them "when there is a restorer on staff."
The Historical Protection Society of La Línea was equally indignant and denounced the facts to the provincial Patrimony authority. Another such society, the Asociación Linense de Patrimonio y Medio Ambiente (Aldepama), pointed out that both Plaza Cruz Herrera and the fountain are supposedly protected by the current Town Planning regulations that date back to 1992, which clearly states that the square, number 16 on a list of protected places, may only be "restored, consolidated, tidied up, redistributed and rebuilt" but never replaced.
Given the ruckus caused by the tiles, and four months after the event, the Council has started an investigation under lawyer Luis Landero. This not without first pointing out that "there exist reports and precedents in the Town Hall registers that say that the area now considered damaged is not the baseof the shaft holding a lamp, which is where the tiles were placed in 1928 and thus need special protection." The square was once a garden, apparently, was converted into a square and absorbed by the growing town. The old tiles were on the inside of what became a fountain, not, they say, on the outside.
The municipal specialists insist that the tiles recently replaced at the bottom of the fountain were made andput up "no more than 15 years ago. They were manufactured by Mensaque y Díaz. On the other hand, the tiles on the floor of the fountain, made of hand painted bathroom tiles that represented the town's coat of arms, were also in very bad condition. These had been installed at about the same time."
The mystery continues.
"Somebody has to pay for this," says Alfonso Escuadra, who is careful to point out that his department and the employment scheme workshop were carefully kept apart.
At the bottom of the fountain are now a series of had painted tiles instead of the 1928 antiques that were made by the cuerda seca method (Can any of our potters tell us what this technique is called in English?). It is true, adds the councillor, that they were in a very bad state but even "something that is in a million pieces can be restored."
Gemma Araujo, for her part, has asked many questions at Council sessions, her party has never had a clear answer. She fears that the tiles "will never reaappear, which is a shame because La Línea is a young town lacking in a rich heritage." She says that the replacement tiles "have nothing to do" with the old ones and cannot understand why the Council made the decision to replace them "when there is a restorer on staff."
The Historical Protection Society of La Línea was equally indignant and denounced the facts to the provincial Patrimony authority. Another such society, the Asociación Linense de Patrimonio y Medio Ambiente (Aldepama), pointed out that both Plaza Cruz Herrera and the fountain are supposedly protected by the current Town Planning regulations that date back to 1992, which clearly states that the square, number 16 on a list of protected places, may only be "restored, consolidated, tidied up, redistributed and rebuilt" but never replaced.
Given the ruckus caused by the tiles, and four months after the event, the Council has started an investigation under lawyer Luis Landero. This not without first pointing out that "there exist reports and precedents in the Town Hall registers that say that the area now considered damaged is not the baseof the shaft holding a lamp, which is where the tiles were placed in 1928 and thus need special protection." The square was once a garden, apparently, was converted into a square and absorbed by the growing town. The old tiles were on the inside of what became a fountain, not, they say, on the outside.
The municipal specialists insist that the tiles recently replaced at the bottom of the fountain were made andput up "no more than 15 years ago. They were manufactured by Mensaque y Díaz. On the other hand, the tiles on the floor of the fountain, made of hand painted bathroom tiles that represented the town's coat of arms, were also in very bad condition. These had been installed at about the same time."
The mystery continues.
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