It seems that the Miguel Hernández Foundation headquarters has been the continuous object of vandalism attacks in recent years, but the president, Autor Larrabide, says that he can’t take it anymore.
On Saturday night, a group of people threw stones at the building owned by the Orihuela City Council and located in Rincón Hernandiano, next to the poet’s House-Museum, breaking windows at the back of the property.
With the knowledge that the security cameras are inoperative a group of people began to throw large rocks against the façade, leaving the glass of one of the windows shattered.
The stone, which penetrated the interior of the building, also caused the breakage of one of the display cases inside the headquarters, which protects several original copies of valuable publications and books on the work of Hernández. Luckily, no one entered the building and there was no further material damage inside.
It is thought that the attack took place overnight Friday/Saturday when the building was closed. According to Larrabide, it is not the first time this has happened. He said that he has denounced previous attacks in February and March.
On all three occasions the attacks were directed against the same window.
Larrabide, and his predecessor at the head of the Foundation, Juan José Sánchez, both criticise the fact that the video surveillance system, which has also been the target of attacks, remains completely inoperative. “The cameras have not worked for months and are unfocused,” says Larrabide in a letter addressed to the mayor, Pepe Vegara.
Larrabide states that he has also brought the matter to the attention of the Councilor for Culture, Gonzalo Montoya, without receiving a response.
