After twenty years in which the neomudéjar building of the Aguirre Schools has been its headquarters, Casa Árabe has until next September 1st to find a new location, according to the notification made yesterday by the Madrid City Council at the meeting of the board of one of the main ‘houses’ of public diplomacy dependent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has not yet reacted to the City Council’s announcement.
The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, after presenting an exhibition at the Conde Duque Cultural Center, informed the media that “today at the Casa Árabe board we have stated that we are reclaiming possession of the building, of the Aguirre Schools, and therefore, Casa Árabe will not be able to continue in that location.” The deadline is September 1st.
The reason for the decision announced by the Madrid mayor is the “chiringuito” in which, he said, Casa Árabe became while “the biographer of Pedro Sánchez,” Irene Lozano, was the general director of the institution.
The mayor accused the former general director of the institution of “leaving Casa Árabe bankrupt” and relied on “the reports from the Court of Auditors, which point to an accounting responsibility of Irene Lozano” to support his claims. Her management of Casa Árabe “entailed the abandonment of the building,” which has “significant structural problems,” the mayor added.
Therefore, according to his version, “we have tried to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but Minister José Manuel Albares is neither here nor expected in this matter.”
The mayor explained that, after the exit of the Community of Madrid from the Casa Árabe board, the city council decided to give a “vote of confidence” to the institution, but stated that the situation has not improved since then.
On January 8th, the counselor of Culture and Sports of the Community of Madrid, Martiano de Paco Serrano, notified by letter to the general director of Casa Árabe, Miguel Moro, that the regional government was withdrawing its participation in the consortium due to “a critical financial situation, ongoing deficits, and recurring negative figures,” which approach “one million euros annually, with ordinary management expenses exceeding three million euros.”
The City Council will reclaim possession of the building and will undertake, as announced by Martínez Almeida, urgent recovery, conservation, and consolidation works to “return it to the use of all Madrilenians,” which can perfectly be cultural.
Although he expressed the possibility of “collaborating with Casa Árabe to help them find another location,” Almeida ruled out that the City Council could provide Casa Árabe with another municipal building.
The Aguirre Schools is a neomudéjar building constructed between 1881 and 1886 that housed one of the most recognized philanthropic educational institutions in Madrid. The project by architect Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso, co-author also of the old bullring, was financed by businessman Lucas Aguirre. Education was free and soon gained renown and fulfilled an important mission in a time when schools were scarce. In 1911, the institution came to depend directly on the Madrid City Council.
Since March 2008 it has been the headquarters of Casa Árabe in Madrid.
