The project proposed by the Thompson hotel developer suggested cocktails, humour, and pop aesthetics in the former Francoist dungeons, declared a site of memory. Mayor José Luis Sanz describes it as not formally presented and promises to consult with unions and memorialists.
Seville City Council has made it clear that the controversial museum project for the dungeons of the former Gavidia police station, which included cocktails, artistic phrases, and a pop approach, will not be accepted. Mayor José Luis Sanz (PP) has assured that the proposal has not been formally presented and that any future initiative will be consulted with unions and memorial associations.
The project, reported by El Correo de Andalucía, aimed to convert the 215 square meters of the semi-basement, where a torture centre operated during Franco's regime, into a space with pop aesthetic decoration, humour, and nods to the local culture, intending to provoke a WOW effect in every corner. However, the proposal has been described as absurd and disrespectful by memorialist groups.
Carlos Aristu, general secretary of CCOO in Seville, has been particularly critical, labelling the project as barbaric and disrespectful towards those who suffered repression there during Franco's regime. The former National Police Headquarters and General Captaincy, closed in 2003, will reopen as a five-star hotel of the Thompson chain, with bookings already available from October 1.
The building was declared a site of democratic memory in 2017, which obliged the developer, when it was sold in January 2022, to reserve a space for a Centre for the Interpretation of Democratic Memory. That space, the dungeons, was to be handed over to the City Council with an independent entrance from the hotel. Ultimately, it has been handed over empty, without preserving the cells, which has been criticised by memorialists.
Mayor Sanz has guaranteed that the future use of the space will be decided in consensus with the involved parties, including unions and memorial associations. For now, the pop museum project is discarded, although the transfer file has already been received by the Urban Planning Management.
The Assembly of Families and Memorialist Associations of the Gavidia square, which was born precisely from the struggle for the memory of this place, continues to demand a dignified space that respects the history of repression that took place there. The City Council has committed to ensuring that the new project is consensual and respects the memory of the victims.
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