The 9,000 inhabitants of the Madrid municipality of
Manzanares el RealThey have just lost their main green lung and the favourite play area for the little ones. Why? A descendant of the Princess of Éboli and the Marquis of Santillana, Almudena de Arteaga, Duchess of Infantado. The aristocrat has just won the eviction lawsuit against the town council for
recover the Duke of Infantado park, something that has not gone down well with the many users of this 2,937 square metre recreational area.
“The natural value is incalculable, storks nest there. Urban planning-wise, it is or should be a crime to demolish it.
It seems as if we are going back to the times of the Middle Ages“We have to bow to the whims of the aristocracy,” said a resident in a statement to ‘El País’.
Even a famous person living in Manzanares, such as the presenter Merecedles Milá, joined in the widespread indignation on her social networks, saying: “Is it so difficult for a family like the Infantados to give up a little piece of land? If their father could speak from his grave,
the litigation would disappear like a shooting star«.
It was not the Duchess’s father, but her grandfather,
Year of Arteaga and FalgueraCaptain General of the Second Military Region, who gave it to the City Council for free in 1975 shortly after Franco’s death as
a gesture of rapprochement and harmony with the people. But after the last extension of this transfer ended, Almudena de Arteaga filed a lawsuit against the City Council in 2021 that has finally prospered. To this lawsuit we must add another litigation that is underway to
Recover ownership of the Mendoza Castlelocated in the same municipality.
Criticism of the City Council’s management
In a video published on the social networks of the City Council of Manzanares el Real, the mayor of the town,
the socialist Jose Luis Labrador, He tried to explain the situation by saying that an attempt had been made to reach an agreement to purchase the land. But the huge difference in appraisals made this impossible. While the municipal technical report valued it at 155,513.73 euros, considering it a “public green zone”,
The Duchess valued the urban plot at 2,237,275.05 eurosThe latest attempt to rent the park for 7,000 euros a month also failed.
The Duke of Infantado Park / Manzanares el Real Town Hall
Despite these words from the mayor, the residents of the municipality
They accuse the municipal government of a lack of transparency throughout the process since the eviction suit was filed. Thus, and if no one prevents it, the investigating court number 3 of Colmenar Viejo has reported that September 16 is the deadline for them to leave the park.
Waiting to see if the Duchess changes her mind, 250 people have gathered in Manzanares el Real to protest against the loss of the park.
We ask Mrs. De Arteaga to reconsider her decision and that, in an act of generosity, he can observe the need of his neighbors, of the children of the town, to be able to enjoy a park like the one at the Duque del Infantado,” they say in a manifesto.
The Duchess for her part
has broken his silence through a letter addressed to ‘El País’ in which he acknowledges that it is true that the park “was given to me by my grandfather and father many years ago, but it has been 10 years since
It is illegally occupied by the City Council as I myself have allowed and as declared by a court ruling. She adds that over the years she has tried to »reach a solution with the Town Hall so that they buy it, rent it at a fair price or vacate it as it is private property.« Refuting the mayor’s words, she assures that the Town Hall has now »bought a plot of land that is worse located in the town and with the same urban planning classification,
for much more than I asked for mine“I don’t know the reason, but I cannot understand the reasons for this if my land really arouses so much public interest.”
Who is Almudena de Arteaga, Duchess of Infantado
The protagonist of this controversy is, in addition to an aristocrat descended from a family of ancient lineage, one of the
Spain’s most prestigious historical novel writers. Almudena de Arteaga (Madrid, 1967) thoroughly investigates every event, every place, every character when she faces a new book. Among the characters she has fictionalized are:
The princess of Éboli, her ancestor to which he dedicated his first novel and which was a huge success.
Almudena de Arteaga at a reception with King Felipe VI. / gtres
Her title of duchess was inherited upon the death of her father, the 19th Duke of Infantado. Although it was initially to be inherited by her brother Íñigo de Arteaga, he died in a tragic accident in 2012 while piloting a light aircraft. This entails
numerous properties and castles throughout Spain –including the two that are the subject of their claims– and a file that belongs to the National Historical Archive.
Among the family’s extensive assets we find the Infantado Palace in Guadalajara, a jewel of the Isabelline Gothic Renaissance style; the Lazcano Palace in Guipúzcoa; the Calahorra Castle in Granada and the Monclova Castle in Seville.
My obligation is to maintain the heritage “I inherited it from my father, my grandfather and my great-great-grandfather,” says the aristocrat. “And that is not easy.”
