In Catalonia, the long-running dispute over the Sixena monastery has taken a new turn, with the Sisters of Bethlehem in Villanueva de Sijena offering Romanesque murals from the monastery to settle a loan with the Catalan Land Institute, Incasòl.
The offer concerns the chapter house paintings and comes after years of legal and political conflict over monastery assets. According to the reports, the nuns are now involved in agreements covering the transfer, custody and possible donation of the murals.
The sisters had previously faced legal action alongside the Catalan government and the National Art Museum of Catalonia, MNAC, over unauthorised sales of monastery property. This latest move adds a financial element to a dispute that has already stretched across nearly three decades.
It also comes as the Aragon government has been granted the right to pursue recovery of the same paintings through legal channels. That leaves the future of the murals tied to both debt settlement and the wider patrimonial case.
For readers following the wider heritage debate in Catalonia, the case sits alongside other coverage of regional news and cultural disputes. See our news coverage for more updates.