Spanish Homeowner to Get €1 Million for Renaissance Facade in His Walls

By Daniel Okafor

Spain's Supreme Court has awarded Juan Francisco León Catena more than €1 million ($1.2 million) for a Renaissance church facade he found inside his own house. He hasn't seen a cent yet.

The story began in November 2016, when León Catena and his father started tearing down interior walls in a property he had bought in Úbeda, a historic town in Andalusia. Úbeda and its neighbor Baeza share a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, granted in 2003. Behind the plaster and partitions sat an enormous stone facade, roughly 49 feet wide and 36 feet tall.

The stonework belongs to the chapel of the former Hospital of San Jorge, also called the Hospital of Pero Almindes, founded in 1347. Its Renaissance additions are attributed to Andrés de Vandelvira, the 16th-century architect behind some of Andalusia's most celebrated buildings.

What did the experts say?

Heritage officials who examined the find praised its remarkable state of preservation and artistic value, according to El País. They described it as a rare surviving example of Renaissance funerary chapel architecture — think of a sculpted church front, complete, folded into somebody's downstairs.

The discovery stopped the renovation cold. Spanish heritage law protects the facade, so any alteration to the property now faces strict restrictions. The same 1985 legislation, though, promises financial rewards for people who accidentally uncover historically significant objects or structures during construction or demolition work.

Collecting proved harder than demolition. The regional government initially refused to pay, triggering a legal battle that dragged on for years until the Supreme Court settled the dispute in León Catena's favor. Nearly a decade after the discovery, an Andalusian government valuation committee has fixed his entitlement at more than €1 million. The money, El País reports, has yet to arrive.

Can the monument be saved?

The facade itself remains in limbo. León Catena has been negotiating with local officials on a plan to expose the front to the street, opening it to residents and tourists. In exchange, he has proposed that the city cover the renovation costs of the four-story building.

Time may be running out. A conservation report commissioned by the regional government warned that leaking roofs in adjoining municipal properties have caused water damage, rotting wooden beams and mold. Officials said the deterioration could eventually trigger a structural collapse.

"Every month that passes without action increases the concern," León Catena told El País, adding that the authorities have been warned about the risks but have not agreed on a solution.

For now, the facade stays cordoned off, essentially as it was in 2016. León Catena and his family, who once hoped to make the building their home, have moved into another building on the same street. Irony doesn't come much more literal: the man owns a national monument and can't live in it.

"Too much time has passed," he said. His priority now, he added, is making the long-hidden monument accessible to the public — a goal that depends on the same authorities who fought him over the reward.