Spain returned paintings belonging to a former Madrid mayor that were seized 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 took place.
In 2022, the Prado published a list of artworks that had been seized during the Civil War and set up a research project to track down their legitimate owners.
The government 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 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 seven paintings, La romería (Museo Nacional del Romanticismo), El viático and El bautizo (Museo del Traje), Romería (Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia), Salida de toreros (Museo de Málaga), Escena de majos y celestina and Asalto a la diligencia (Museo del Prado) and El merendero and Vendedor de periódicos, currently housed in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturiaswere were returned to the heirs of Pedro Rico (1888 - 1957), the first Republican mayor of Madrid.
Main Image: Interior Prado Museum
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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