Valencia begins its shielding as an Asset of Cultural Interest before the drift of Peter Lim

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How to tie the hands of

so that he does not end

, its material and sentimental heritage and its 104 years of history?

The arrival of the businessman from

has meant the jibarization of sports, with the team in relegation positions, the fracture with the social mass, with continuous protest demonstrations, and also with public institutions due to the lack of fulfillment of the acquired commitments, such as finish the new stadium that has only been a concrete skeleton for a decade.

The objective of the Valencianistas is to find a way to force the maximum shareholder to leave the club, something that he states that he is not going to do.

Meanwhile, the fans think that he is strangling him until his survival is endangered.

association

, promoter of the latest protests, has found a formula little exploited in Spanish football and with only one precedent.

Forced to become companies with owners, clubs have not ceased to play a backbone role in their societies, with historical and cultural roots and, therefore, with values ​​worthy of protection as manifestations of the cultural heritage of a city or region. .

Consequently, they are likely to be declared

(BIC), which grants them protection in the general interest.

In the case of Valencia, it is the most important Valencian civil entity by number of followers and international relevance.

«Valencia CF is more than a commercial company;

».

This is how this association collects it, which seeks the Generalitat to declare the BIC club intangible and has achieved that the plenary session of the

, unanimously of all the political groups, promotes the cataloging.

Thus begins a process that can last, according to sources consulted, between 12 and 18 months and that will end with a decree of the

.

The precedent of expropriation

This would impose on Lim an

Valencia, and should prevent him from adopting "decisions or positions that compromise the future of the club or endanger its survival", but it opens an even more interesting door: "You could resort to legal tools such as proceeding to the

based on article 21 of the aforementioned Law 4/1998, of June 11, of the Valencian Cultural Heritage».

"It may seem that it is a toast to the sun, but there is already a precedent," recalls the president of Libertad VCF,

, to El Mundo.

It is

.

In August 2016, the Junta de Andalucía declared Recreativo de Huelva as an Asset of Cultural Interest and this covered the expropriation that, shortly before, the Huelva City Council had made of the majority shareholding in the hands of the company Gildoy España, which had plunged to the club in a situation of non-payments to employees and footballers, the Treasury and Social Security.

The declaration as BIC supported its survival, or so the Huelva journalist Juanma Garrido describes it in his book

(Pábilo Editorial, 2017).

"There is no doubt that Recreativo is for Huelva like Holy Week or El Rocío," he explains.

Managed by a public municipal company since it became SAD, to which the council contributed with the sale of the stadium land, it lived its best years in the 2000s, with seven seasons in the First Division and one Cup final. Relegation it complicated its economy and in 2012 it was sold to businessman Pablo Comas.

Demonstration against the maximum shareholder of Valencia.EFE

Highly contested sporting decisions gave rise to greater financial problems and fans, through the

, raised the alert.

The club was on the verge of liquidation and unable to register players.

Campaigns such as 'Líberos del Dean' raised a million euros "among standing fans", recalls Garrido, to settle debts with AFE and continue competing.

In October 2015, thousands of supporters took to the streets calling for Comas to leave the club.

And the City Council took note and, far from fearing political consequences, the new government team, led by the socialist Gabriel Cruz, began the expropriation.

The courts have given him the reason several times.

The decision of the municipal plenary session guaranteed that the dean of Spanish football did not disappear and today he continues, in the RFEF Second Division, with the City Council as the largest shareholder despite the recommendation of the auditor to put it up for sale.

They have tried twice and no one has complied with the requirements of the specifications.

"In case the situation gets worse"

Would the Valencian institutions be willing to go that far?

Not for the moment.

Ximo Puig does not want to hear about expropriation.

They still do not consider the dramatic situation.

Lim, until now, has always provided "assisted breathing" to the club so as not to let it die.

The Ministry of Culture will promote this declaration, as well as that of

, and there is only one precedent for an intangible good:

.

However, there are those who see this protection as a way to handcuff the owner "in case the situation gets worse."

In the City Council they have already done it with the agreement of the new stadium, which conditions the urban benefits of the requalification of the old Mestalla to the resumption of the works and the construction of a sports center.

At the moment, there is no signature.

The intention was to prevent Lim from being able to commercialize the land and not invest it in finishing the new field.

The BIC declaration is one more step.

“We will have more legal coverage so that you cannot make decisions that harm the general interest.

Valencia has its survival at stake and these principles must be established to avoid having an unwanted end, ”admits the councilor for the Treasury, the socialist Borja Sanjuán.

If when there is BIC, if necessary, the authorities falter, from Libertad VCF they will remind them that they will demand Lim as they do today.

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