Episode 14. Palacio Canto del Pico: Entitlement

In 1915, Count José María del Palacio y Abárzuza stole a statuette of St. James the Greater from the grave of 15th-century Spanish royalty. In 1969, this figure appeared in the New York Met Museum.

How did it get there? The answer lies with the Count’s mansion: Beak Cliff House, or Palacio del Canto del Pico.

In today’s story, we meet David. David is a nice guy. Too nice. In a world where everyone always feels entitled to take, he gives.

When his snotty boss makes him hide a mysterious USB drive from the police, he embarks on a mission of corporate intrigue that takes him straight to the Count’s abandoned mansion.

There, he finds a statue of the Virgin Mary. The voices trapped inside show him the fate of the stolen Spanish artifact and introduce him to the Count, a weird little American man named Arthur Byne, and even William Randolph Hearst.

He stops giving.

Because David is entitled to take, too.

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1-A link to the New York Met page showing the catalog entry for the statuette of St. James the Greater, currently in the museum’s possession.

2-The official webpage of the Carthusian monastery in Miraflores where they recount the theft.

3-The location of Beak Cliff House or Palacio del Canto del Pico up on a cliff in Torrelodones, Madrid.

4-A picture of Arthur Byne with his weird little beard thing.

5-A picture of the Count as a young boy.

6-Los prodigios de Gillingham by José Francisco Rodil Lombardía. Our mansion, stolen loot, bribes to Francois collaborators and Nazi colluders all appear in this novel. See a summary here.

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Check out video of the creepy mansion I took while recording and researching the episode. You can see it on Spanish Sundown’s webpage, or on Facebook, Instagram or Reddit, where you can also join our online community.

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