The Caja de Reparaciones was the name given to all the goods requisitioned from the coup plotters in order to be able to deal with the losses that the war had caused the country. Most of them were of a financial nature, but the question is whether there were also pieces of heritage value, as has been shown. In fact, they had been handed over in 1938 to the Junta del Tesoro Artístico (Artistic Treasure Board), which was responsible for salvaging the country's artistic heritage. The most important ones were evacuated at the end of the war to Geneva, to the headquarters of the League of Nations. At the beginning of 1939, Juan Negrín, foreseeing the worst, had given orders to start packing and sending the goods from the Caja de Reparaciones to Mexico to defray the costs of exile. This is the first part of the book. The second part focuses on the voyage of the yacht "Vita" to Mexico with goods mainly from the Caja de Reparaciones. Much has been written about this yacht, but there are also many unknowns, especially with regard to its cargo and whether it contained any assets of a patrimonial nature. The fact that it was Indalecio Prieto, in open belligerence with Negrín, who took possession of the yacht, further deepens the problem due to the evident lack of an inventory of the cargo. The key to this research lies in not isolating the study of the "Vita", but relating and comparing it with the evacuation of the works of art to Geneva. The third part focuses on Franco's management of the assets of the Caja de Reparaciones in the immediate post-war period. The aim is to analyse the fate of these pieces, with paintings of primary importance, their return, delivery in deposit and diversion. Following a research stay in Mexico, the author has been able to access a large amount of archival documentation, much of it unpublished, so that the aim of this book is to provide new information in order to shed light on this historical enigma.

Language: Spanish

Pages: 256