The sale of a Goya belonging to the Ramírez de Haro family has become, more than a decade later, a judicial headache for Fernando Ramírez de Haro, husband of Esperanza Aguirre. A judge in Madrid has ordered him to pay 853,732 euros to his brother Íñigo for his share of the price obtained after the sale of the canvas Portrait of Valentín Belvís de Moncada, acquired by businessman Juan Miguel Villar Mir in 2012 for 5.8 million euros.
The sentence, advanced by eldiario.es and reported by EFE, details how this sale was agreed between the brothers to solve the serious economic problems of the first-born, Count of Bornos, whose debt amounted to 7 million euros. To this end, five of the Ramírez de Haro brothers met in 2012 and agreed to part with the work by Francisco de Goya, a historical piece of great value.
The signed agreement: “legally valid and effective”.
The judge considers it proven that Aguirre’s husband committed in writing, on January 9, 2014, to deliver to each of his four siblings, and to the daughter of the deceased brother, the proportional part of the money obtained from the sale of the painting. A commitment that, according to the resolution, is “legally valid and effective”, although it was subject to the economic availability of Fernando Ramirez de Haro and did not set a specific deadline.
This nuance was key. Although the defense argued that no date for payment had been stipulated, the judge cited
The magistrate summarizes the situation as follows: “The absence of establishing a time limit and the means of accrediting the economic availability does not prevent the enforceability of the debt”, since a “prudential” time has passed and there have been “various proposals to make it effective”.
In addition to the principal amount, the judge ordered Aguirre’s husband to pay interest for late payment, which will be fixed during the execution phase.
Three mail complaints and one lawsuit filed
Despite the written agreement, Fernando Ramírez de Haro never paid. His brother Íñigo claimed the debt up to
That criminal proceeding was closed in 2023. However, the civil proceeding – the one we are now dealing with – has continued to move forward until it resulted in this ruling, which can still be appealed.
A long-standing controversy
The family conflict around the painting is not limited to non-payment. Íñigo Ramírez de Haro accused his brother of having “appropriated the painting, which belonged to the family, and did not pay taxes for it”. He also questioned the fact that the sale took place when Esperanza Aguirre was president of the Community of Madrid and without the work being declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC).
In fact, the Public Prosecutor’s Office even requested an investigation into whether Aguirre’s husband had defrauded the Treasury with this operation, although the case was closed without criminal consequences.
Paradoxically, a month after the archive, in March 2023, the Community of Madrid did declare the painting a BIC, granting it the highest level of protection because it is “a good example of the portraits of the Aragonese painter of the late eighteenth century”.
The economic and emotional background of the case
The origin of this dispute has a strong family component. The painting was sold to pay off the older brother’s millionaire debt, but the agreed distribution of the money never materialized. This has fueled internal tensions and has led to a legal battle that combines elements of trust, family heritage and unfulfilled commitments.
The judge makes it clear that sufficient time has passed to consider that the failure to pay can no longer be justified under the umbrella of “waiting for financial availability”.
The sentence is, therefore, a severe legal setback for Fernando Ramírez de Haro, as well as the closing of a chapter that has accumulated years of tensions and that could still be prolonged if an appeal is filed.
