The enemy devours history from within.
The voracious battalions infiltrate the polychrome wood and, gnawing that gnawing, deteriorate a very valuable altarpiece from the 16th century.
The Trojan termites that have conquered the church of Santa Eufemia have allied themselves with humidity and time to punish a Renaissance piece on its way to succumbing if the seven residents of Terradillos de Sedano (Burgos) had not mobilized against insects and erosion .
Avoiding the heritage tragedy costs 30,000 euros.
The prefix micro goes big: crowdfunding can save this microtown from microscopic invaders.
The campaign, managed through the Hispania Nostra heritage recovery association, has been promoted by the seven inhabitants of this small town in the Sedano Valley, where Miguel Delibes was inspired for his novels thanks to a privileged natural and cultural environment.
Nieves Martínez, one of the leaders of the recovery plan, explains that the work on the temple has always remained on the town's agenda, with the litany "it had to be fixed, it had to be fixed" recited by the elders of the place, some of the who died without seeing the rehabilitated altarpiece.
The 16th century altarpiece of the church of Santa Eufemia that the neighbors want to save from termites and humidity.
The main objective of the people of Burgos is that the elderly can enjoy this centuries-old jewel and that Terradillos can have visibility thanks to its artistic resources.
The pandemic, which brought many people back to their origins, encouraged everyone to raise funds to undertake those structural and ornamental reforms that the altarpiece needs, damaged by insects, humidity and years of neglect.
After slowly raising some 4,000 euros through baskets, lottery, donations or charity parties, the Santa Eufemia cultural association has taken the leap to appeal to social conscience so that this municipality located at the end of a road can show its values.
The person in charge of crowdfunding at Hispania Nostra, Teresa Merello, highlights the "brutal social awareness" of local heritage in Castilla y León, a victim of depopulation but buoyant culturally thanks to centuries of splendor.
“You can see the sensitivity of the people, they wrap their heads around their heads and get on with it,” applauds Merello, who affirms that the initiative has already reached a minimum of 10,000 euros encrypted to begin work.
The most ambitious goal – 30,000 – will come if people continue to invest in projects like these, very common mechanisms in the community in general and in Burgos in particular to rescue their precious monuments or compositions from oblivion.
“It is admirable.
I don't have a town and I find it fascinating that people go out of their way to keep it in good condition so that it can be enjoyed.
They not only seek to restore it, but to put it on the map so as not to be an abandoned town because they are alive”, reflects the member of the association.
The feeling of Terradillos, confirms Martínez, who lives in the capital but regularly travels to this oasis of peace, is exactly that.
The breakages, eroded pieces, discolored ornaments and the voracity of the xylophagous on the wood caused grief in the area that through popular daring aspires to be corrected.
The dirt generated by the candles, the dust accumulated over decades and the bites of termites can be seen in the Renaissance complex.
The Burgos woman affirms that to carry out this plan, which expires on July 8, they were inspired by the success of nearby Fuenteodra, another practically uninhabited town that, through small anonymous collections, managed to reap an immense amount for what was expected: more than 40,000 euros for the late Gothic church in clear risk of collapse.
Less response, laments Martínez, they have obtained from the Archbishopric, which is the entity responsible for these properties.
Despite the fact that “there is nothing more painful than a fallen church”, no ecclesiastical items have arrived for this restoration.
The member of the cultural association Santa Eufemia appeals to the trickle of economic injections to become a financial hose like the one received by an infrastructure company in Burgos.
This has donated 2,500 euros, a "macro income" received "as if the lottery had fallen" and they want it to be repeated.
If the 30,000 euros necessary to undertake the complete restoration are exceeded, the work will begin in September, with the forecast to finish around Christmas and “may the Kings bring it to us”.
This would answer the question formulated by the elders of Terradillos and Sedano and which no longer has a resigned tone but rather an optimistic one: "Do you think we will achieve it?"
Aerial view of Terradillos de Sedano, Burgos. Santa Eufemia Cultural Association
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