Representatives of the Forum for the Memory of the Campo de Gibraltar and the Casa de la Memoria Association took part in an event to remember victims of Francoist repression in Cortes de la Frontera on Saturday 4 May.
The tribute, which was organised by the Ateneo A Galopar organisation, took place in the local cemetery and was also attended by relatives of victims, supporters of the cause, the mayor of Cortes, José Antonio Zurera García, and others.
Among the speakers was Oriol y May, of the Ateneo A Galopar, who said a great deal still needs to be done in terms of historical memory in Cortes de la Frontera, referring to the mass graves in the cemetery, Francoist symbols in some streets and at a local school and, more blatatly, the monument in the cemetery itself “in memory of victims of republican repression” which has been in place since 1940.
The text on the monument, in capital letters, translates as “ they died for God and their homeland, vilely murdered by the Marxist hordes on 23 September 1926, martyred with extreme cruelty in this very place after having endured 22 hours of fire in the prison of this town”.
The Ateneo has drawn up a document to be presented at the next council meeting, calling for these issues to be rectified in accordance with regional and national Historical and Democratic Memory Laws.
