The Casa de las Conchas de Borja, a 16th century Renaissance palace that was declared a national monument in 1978, has today inaugurated its restoration after being closed for 40 years.

It is now reopening as a library and conference centre after an investment of more than 1.3 million euros, financed almost equally by the DPZ and the City Council.

Consolidation and rehabilitation work on the Casa de las Conchas, an emblematic building owned by the municipality and located in the historic centre of Borja, began in the early 1980s, but was not completed and the building has been protected by scaffolding for 24 years.

In 2018, the Diputación de Zaragoza and the Consistory started the definitive restoration of the palace. Once completed, the more than 2,000 square metres of the Casa de las Conchas will be recovered for the enjoyment of the people of Borja.

The inauguration was also attended by the mayor of Borja, Eduardo Arilla, and the rest of the municipal corporation; the president of the Comarca Campo de Borja, María Eugenia Coloma; the provincial deputies Feliciano Tabuenca and Elena García Juango; and other mayors of the area. Also in attendance was the director of Territorio Mudéjar, Victoria Trasobares.

The palace is a residential building built for the Vera family between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century (it was completed in 1524). Originally, the entrance door to the Casa de las Conchas was decorated with iron nails in the shape of shells, which gave the building its name. After its declaration as a national monument in 1978, it is now protected as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC).