The TSJN confirms that Villava must remove the shield from the pediment containing seven provinces

He Supreme Court of Navarre (TSJN) has confirmed the ruling that the placement on the municipal pediment of Villava of a shield with seven provinces and the term Euskal Herria is “a manifestation as a position in favor of a certain political position that presupposes the violation of the duty of political neutrality required of public power.”

For this reason, the Chamber for Administrative Disputes of the TSJN dismissed the appeal filed by the Villava Municipal Council against the September 2023 ruling by the Administrative Court Number 2 of Pamplona, ​​which in turn had endorsed a resolution of the Municipal Council . Administrative Court of Navarre (TAN). By affirming the lower court’s ruling, the TSJN imposes on the Villava City Council the suppression or removal of the aforementioned shield because “it violates political neutrality.”

An appeal was lodged against the placement of the shield on the pediment UPN local committee de Villaba “realizing that it violates the duty of political neutrality of public power and to objectively serve the public interests.”

“The shield, as a symbol, means that a visual message is sent to the recipient. The visual message is packed with meanings, and a significant part of them is, in today’s legal, political, administrative and social context, very remote.” of being limited to a decorative purpose or an indication of purely historical, cultural or sporting realities,” the ruling states.

Moreover, he adds, “since it is a shield that integrates territories, it is also worth taking into account the visual effect of identification and persuasion or conversion on the viewer.”

The magistrates conclude that the place where the symbol shows its effects – a municipal space – is ‘a space for all citizens’. The duty of neutrality therefore requires confirmation of the judgment against which the appeal has been lodged and therefore the lifting or erasure of the shield.