for the Spain they believed to be better:
in Barbastro, the Church of San Francisco
As Julián Casanova states in his book The Torrero cemetery: a place of memories, edited by the Zaragoza City Council “the decree of General Franco of 16 November 1938, before the Civil War had ended, proclaimed that 20 November would be an annual national “day of mourning” in memory of the execution on that day of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936. The decree established “in keeping with an agreement with the authorities of the Church”, that “the walls of every parish will carry an inscription containing the names of their Fallen, whether in this Crusade or whether vicitms of the Marxist revolution”.
This was the beginning of the placement of plaques in churches and of the construction of commemoraitve mouments to the fallen. By the end of the war, Spain was filled with the memories of the victors.”
During the Spanish Civil War 51 Claretians were executed in Barbastro (Huesca) by militiamen of the Popular Front. Numerous socialist, republican and communist activists were jailed and executed in the following years after the Spanish Civil War.
The huge plaque on the wall of the Church of San Francisco in Barbastro commemorates José Antonio Primo de Rivera and the residents of Barbastro who fought on the Nationalist side and were killed or missing in the Spanish Civil War. It is very controversial the maintenance of this Nationalist memorial. As a result it has been several times vandalized.
These photos were taken in September 2019.
