Nijar Council seeks solution for Cortijo del Fraile

THE Mayor of Nijar, Antonio Jesus Rodriguez, has complained that the Junta de Andalucia has done nothing to prevent the Cortijo del Fraile from falling into further disrepair.

The owners of the house, used during the making of the 1966 Spaghetti western starring Clint Eastwood, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, the company Agricola La Mision SL, said in September that they were willing to sell it and wanted to reach an agreement with Nijar Town Hall and the Junta de Andalucia as soon as possible.

Both institutions want the ‘cortijo’, which was classified as an Asset of Cultural Interest last February, to become public heritage to it can be repaired and restored.

Currently, a collapsed wall threatens to bring the entire building down. However, Rodriguez says that the Junta has “done nothing except make demands” without coming to an agreement which would make the building public domain.

According to the mayor, the owners of the property have said that they are “tired of the Junta’s tricks” and that the only thing they receive from them are “threats”.

The town hall now plans to meet with the owners and leave the Junta de Andalucia out of the equation, looking instead to the General State Administration for a proposal.

“If we wait around for the Junta to do something” the mayor said, “years could pass and the building will end up collapsing”.

The Cortijo del Fraile was the true-life setting of the crime of passionate murder on which Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca based his play ‘Blood Wedding’ published in 1932.

The owners said that although the property may be worth up to €4m, the amount of money they receive is the last of their priorities as they prefer to be rid of it so that it can be properly maintained.

Photo credit: Ventura Carmona