Niemeyer center announces surprise end

Just six months after it was inaugurated, the Niemeyer Center in Avilés has announced the end of its cultural program. José Luis Rebollo, general secretary of the board for Niemeyer Foundation, which manages the center, said on Saturday that the October 8 performance of flamenco dancer María Pagés will be the center's last.

Though the center will still be open to the public for visits, the suspension of its entire cultural program is expected to cost it some ¤600,000 in cancelations and refunds.

The main problem looming on the horizon is a December 15 deadline for the transfer of properties belonging to the Principality of Asturias that seems unlikely to be met. The date was set in 2010 with the assumption that all the paperwork would be completed by that time, but in the case of the Niemeyer Center, the new Popular Party regional government of Francisco Álvarez-Cascos stopped the transfer process in June.

"The regional government's proposal was for 50 years, but we would have been fine with five, which is the time needed to get a cultural center of this type on its feet," Rebollo said. But, "in June, the current government said they would not continue with the transfer because they were just being sworn in."

In addition to the difficulty imposed by the deadline, there has been further controversy surrounding changes in the Niemeyer Foundation's board statutes earlier this year that reduced the regional government's representation (although it still has a majority) and named artist Manolo Díaz as president, a position formerly held by the Asturian culture commissioner.

Last week regional premier Álvarez-Cascos said in a televised interview that "an institute that does not comply with management and transparency controls cannot have a program. These are not being administered by the Niemeyer Foundation right now and its directors know it."

His remarks followed accusations a few weeks ago from the regional culture department of "gross financial irregularities" at the center, which responded by expressing its complete "bewilderment and astonishment" at the charges. Sources there said that everything pointed to a "brutal attack by the premier against the most important cultural project in Asturias."

In Avilés on Friday for Kevin Spacey's adaptation of Richard III, Spanish Culture Minister Ángeles González-Sinde said that she would seek an agreement within the board that would allow the center to continue.