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Morocco and Spain have finally agreed to conclude the selling of Tangier's Gran Teatro Cervantes, a theater built in 1913 and dedicated to Miguel Cervantes. The information was revealed by the former Spanish government, led by the People's Party (PP), which told a Spanish MP that the Moroccan authorities and Spain are currently working on the procedure, reports online newspaper Periodistas.
However, the operation still needs to get through a parliamentary vote, which will grant the go ahead to the signing of a protocol between the two countries.
Once ceded to the Kingdom, a joint committee will be in charge of the facility. Morocco has previously agreed to transform the building into a cultural center for the promotion of Spanish but the committee in question has not been established yet, adds the same source.
Refurbishing Tangier's Art Deco theater
Reopening Tangier's Gran Teatro Cervantes can cost a lot of money, says El Mundo. Refurbishing the facility can range between 3 to 5 million euros, without taking into consideration equipment and management.
But the Spanish authorities had indicated that they could not invest so much money on the restoration of a building that is located outside Spain.
Several associations and activists reacted to the state of the theater which has been deteriorating for years. In 2010, an association that was led by Moroccan and Spanish students tried to take care of the theater, but the Spanish Foreign Ministry felt that even if their cultural project was viable it was not economically viable.
In 2013, several Spanish, Moroccan and French artists signed a petition for the recovery of the theater which was to be transformed into a center of «scenic innovation of the Mediterranean».
Built in 1913 by the couple Manuel Peña and Esperanza Orellana then acquired by the Spanish government in 1928 to spread Spanish culture, the Cervantes Theater is an «architectural jewel» of Moroccan heritage. During the 1950s, it was considered as the largest theater in North Africa.
