The Diplomat
The Official State Gazette (BOE) yesterday published the “irrevocable” donation to Morocco of the property of the Gran Teatro Cervantes in Tangier. The transfer will come into effect on 1 March, thus completing the insertion made in the BOE number 68 of 20 March 2019.
This transfer was materialised in a Protocol which was signed, after authorisation by the Council of Ministers on 8 February 2019, on 13 February 2019.
The Cervantes Theatre in Tangier was donated to the Spanish State in 1928 and is one of the most important cultural buildings in the city. However, since the 1970s its state of conservation has suffered from neglect and disuse, giving rise to increasing complaints from associations, as well as recurrent enquiries from journalists.
It is a building of unquestionable architectural and cultural value that requires a major investment for its rehabilitation, an investment that the various Spanish administrations have not been able to provide, according to the Executive.
For this reason, and having studied the possible options for putting it into operation, it was decided to transfer it to Morocco, thus responding to the Moroccan government’s offer to restore and manage the theatre in exchange for the transfer of its ownership.
