Roof tiles named after micro-patrons to save a Leonese hermitage

Jaime Lazaro

Updated Saturday, March 9, 2024-16:37

A few dozen tiles and less than a thousand euros already separate the little more than 400 residents of Bercianos del Páramo (León) from their purpose: saving the hermitage of their Christ.

To do this, they have launched an original

crowdfunding

campaign in which they request the help of anyone who wants to participate in such a noble cause.

In exchange, and as a thank you, the name of the donor will be engraved on each of the pieces of clay that will cover the

Christ of the Eras

, the image that gives its name to the small 17th century chapel.

Woodworm, damp or nesting birds - some have even sneaked into the building through the gaps in the ceiling - have been damaging the structure of the oratory roof.

The continuous presence of leaks during the last months, which put at risk the altarpiece and Christ himself, both also from the 17th century and recently restored, was the trigger for the 90 members of the

Cultural Association Cofradía de la Vera Cruz

to take action to the work.

They then decided to create, through the non-profit Hispania Nostra foundation,

crowdfunding

, a micro-patronage in which anyone who wanted could contribute a financial amount for the restoration.

But how to differentiate yourself from other similar campaigns and attract patrons?

«After considering many possibilities, Javier Infantes, one of the members of the brotherhood, who is a very traveler, told us that he had seen a monk in Malaysia who painted tiles and sold them.

Sixto

Mata

, first butler of the brotherhood, and I loved the idea and thought that we could put the names of the people who would collaborate," explains

Javier Benéitez

, who holds the position of abbot in the association.

They then thought about how to do it.

They thought about it a thousand times while drinking beer in the town, from painting the names by hand to marking the clay with a mold.

Javier proposed what seemed crazy at the time: engrave them with a laser.

One day, by chance, while walking through the Sunday market in

Santa María del Páramo

, a nearby town, he met a boy who had a screen-printed t-shirt company and proposed to him.

"I noticed that he looked at me strangely and when I explained to him what we had thought of, he was interested and started investigating," Javier remembers.

A few Sundays later he showed up at the same market with a sample engraved tile.

That was the beginning of a madness that already yesterday exceeded

350 donors

and 17,000 of the 18,000 euros they need.

The names of all the donors will be engraved for posterity on the tiles that will shelter the Christ of the Ages.

Citizen initiative

Our hermitage.

Crowdfunding has become a fundamental tool to safeguard heritage, outside of public and private institutions.

Only these large organizations can afford heavy investments in restoration and consolidation of movable and immovable assets.

And where subsidies do not arrive, citizen initiative arrives.

On September 24, 2023, Spain reached 50 monuments on the UNESCO list and is the fifth country with the most World Heritage sites, of which nine are in Castilla y León.

Explains

Teresa Merello de Miguel

, from the Hispania Nostra association, that for "a couple of years we have been developing about 10 annual crowdfunding campaigns."

Merello, responsible for communication and crowdfunding of the entity that since its foundation in 1976 has as its objective the defense, enhancement and promotion of the cultural and natural assets of our country, assures that for a project of this type to work it is essential to have with

a solvent proposal

: «There must be a promoter who works locally with intensity and a lot of involvement in the territory, a lot of support from the local inhabitants.

It is of no use if the population is not involved.

No one from outside is going to donate if the neighbors are not committed.

It is essential that the contagion of emotion goes from the inside out.

In addition, each contribution can be deducted.

Castilla y León is probably the autonomous community that uses these campaigns the most to restore its artistic and cultural heritage.

It is also one of those with the largest number of monuments on the

Hispania Nostra Red List

, which includes those heritage assets in danger or abandonment.

And in Castilla y León people are "very aware, there is a lot of love for the heritage and a lot of concern about carrying out these initiatives among everyone," highlights Teresa Merello, "a sociological study would have to be carried out to see why small towns, "Where there are almost no people, that is where they are best organized and they are not waiting to receive subsidies or for others to do the work for them."

The 400 residents of Bercianos are waiting impatiently for the little more than two weeks remaining until the end of the campaign.

May those 18,000 euros save the small chapel, where the cultural legacy of their ancestors and the devotion of a people come together: «we are

surprised and hopeful

by the acceptance and reception of the campaign.

We have contributions from Madrid, Algeciras, Granada, Gijón, Málaga... People are contributing, from the largest amounts to the most humble.

In many small municipalities, the only heritage we have is the church and the hermitage.

And a little more.

In many of them those chapels have been lost - Javier Benéitez emphasizes - and we are not willing to allow it, we are going to fight to save it.