Spain returns artwork seized during Civil War

Spain on Thursday returned paintings belonging to a former Madrid mayor that were seized for their protection during the 1936-39 Civil War and never returned under Francisco Franco's dictatorship.

The seven paintings had been kept in several museums throughout Spain, including the Prado Museum in Madrid, where the handover ceremony to the family of Pedro Rico, Madrid's mayor as the Civil War broke out, took place on Thursday evening.

In 2022, the Prado published a list of artworks that had been seized during the war and set up a research project to track down their legitimate owners.

The government has identified more than 6,000 items, including jewellery, ceramics and textiles, as well as some paintings, sculptures and furniture, which were safeguarded during the war by Republican forces fighting Franco's Nationalists and never returned by Francoist institutions when he came to power.

"It's a very important moment of justice and reparation that the Spanish government is doing for their families," said Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun.

The paintings returned to Rico's family nine decades later were mainly scenes of everyday life by 19th-century artists such as Eugenio Lucas and his son Lucas Villaamil.

Francisca Rico said she was very moved by the restitution of the paintings belonging to her grandfather, who was mayor between 1931-1934 and then in 1936 and who died in exile in France.

"(They're ) finally doing what should have been done long ago," she said.