International Observatory Of Theatres At Risk

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Gran Teatro Fleta

Located in Zaragoza

Located in the centre of Saragossa, the Fleta is a highly valuable modern architectural construction, and is registered as such by the DO.CO.MO.MO Foundation for the Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement.

This building, the work of the architect José de Yarza García, was inaugurated with the name of the “Teatro Iris” in 1954. In 1986 the Council of Saragossa agreed to the inclusion of the theatre in its catalogue of buildings of interest. Since then many attempts have been made to declassify the theatre, motivated by the economic potential of urban land use.

In 1998 the Aragonese Local Government decided to purchase the theatre in order to convert it into the region’s largest performance venue. The building should have been inaugurated after the completion of rehabilitation work in the year 2003. However from then on the building has suffered much damage, among which has been the destruction of its attractive stage area.

At present the Government of Aragon is trying to seek refuge in its own destructive policy (in which it has spent more than 12 million euros) in order to privatise the theatre and proceed with the demolition of this listed building. There is an ever-growing number of voices in favour of the conservation of the modern architecture of the theatre and its public use.

The criteria which have caused this situation are far from artistic, architectural or heritage concerns, they are however, primarily economic. The laws of the marketplace are prevailing over the management of public cultural management.

(Information taken from the court hearing of the Association of Public Action for the Defence of the Heritage of Aragon, the APUDEPA, in the courts of Aragon)

Related Links:
APUDEPA

Salvar el Fleta es posible



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