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A walk through Tudela's commemorative sculpture

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Monument to the Jota (1985)

Author: Antonio Loperena Eseverri (Arguedas, 1922-Tudela, 2010).
Promoter/financing: Orden del Volatín, Parliament and Caja de Ahorros de Navarra.
Inauguration/installation: April 6, 1985.
Location: Initially installed on the Camino de San Marcial, at the entrance to the Sugar Factory. It has been subject to several changes of location until the present one in the street of the Jota.

The Monument to the Jota was inaugurated on April 6, 1985 as an initiative of the Orden del Volatín, supported by the Regional Parliament and the Caja de Ahorros de Navarra. Besides being dedicated to the jota in the framework the revitalization of the popular musical traditions, it pays homage to Raimundo Lanas (Murillo el Fruto, 1908-Fuendejalón, Zaragoza, 1939), "The Nightingale of Navarre", considered as the best jota player of our land and forger of the current jota of Navarre, as the president of the Order of the Volatín, José Antonio Castellanos, expressed in the inaugural act.

The set was created by Antonio Loperena, who adapted his figurative language to the representation of popular tradition. It is organized around three elements: in the lower part there is a couple of joteros, a man dressed in a beret, scarf and sash holding with his left hand the guitar resting on the ground, and a woman who, with her arms in jars, starts singing with a determined gesture; behind both stands a truncated conical shaft, on whose upper part can be read: "Tudela a la Jota Navarra", which reinforces the identity character of the work and fixes it in the cultural report . The pedestal is crowned by the bust of Raimundo Lanas, identified by his name, with his characteristic beret tilted and his handkerchief knotted around his neck. On the back of the shaft is the registration: "Erected by the Caja de Ahorros de Navarra, Parliament of Navarre and the Order of the Volatín. April 6, 1985. Sculptor A. Loperena".

In May 2025, the Tudela City Council agreed to carry out conservation and restoration work on the monument, including biological cleaning, removal of graffiti and reintegration of lost volumes.

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aula_abierta_itinerarios_45_bibliografia

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