Every day, thousands of visitors come to Granada to see the Alhambra World Heritage Site and marvel at the superlative splendour of its Nazrid palaces. This wonderful city is, however, far more than the sum of its Moorish architecture and Renaissance grandeur. To gain more than a romanticised shapshot, the discerning traveller can step off the tourist route for a profound insight into Spain´s troubled 20th century history.
The Walls Of San José
It is an easy twenty-minute walk from the Alhambra, between olive trees and slopes covered with open pine woodland, to the Cemetery of San José.
On a calm Granada day of clean blue skies, with the snow-topped relief of the Sierra Nevada mountains rising to the distinctive Pico de Veleta in the distance, the overwhelming impression is one of tranquillity. There is nothing, at first sight, to indicate the harrowing events that took place here as Spain´s shattered democracy gave way to the repressive dictatorship of "El Caudillo", General Francisco Franco.
It is against the walls of the Cementerio de San José that 3,978 people were executed by Franco´s extreme right-wing, Nationalist firing squads. Most of the people killed here were assassinated between the Civil War years of 1936 and 1939, but the last documented shooting was carried out as late as 1956.
Some of those who died were politicians on the losing side of the conflict. Many more were less clearly linked with the defeated Republican administration. Among them were modern-thinking school teachers, professors from the University of Granada, engineers and others who had been instrumental in improving the outdated Spanish road network and other infrastructures. Women who had striven for equality died here too, as did agricultural workers who defended the old Republic´s efforts to end the feudal systems that controlled much of Spain´s land and the lives of its disempowered workforce.
To walk here, to see the bullet holes that in places riddle the red walls, is not an easy experience to describe. There are no great monuments to the fallen here, but heavy in the air of this seemingly neglected corner of Granada, there lingers a profound sense of outrage at what can happen when conflicting ideologies career out of control.
A Brief History
In 1931, following the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1930) and the suspension of the monarchy, Spain elected a Republican government. Anti-clerical, anti-monarchist and progressive, the Second Republic was flawed in many ways. Despite this, many of the reforms undertaken during its brief tenure were remarkably forward-looking and promoted improvements in womens´ rights, education and land management.
By the mid-1930s, however, amidst a climate of crumbling reforms and civil unrest, extreme right-wing politics was on the rise in Spain. In 1936, a Fascist-supported uprising, led by senior army officials under General Francisco Franco, led to Civil War with the Republican government.
It was a tragic and bloody conflict that pitted brother against brother and led to countless atrocities on both sides. After a war that claimed the lives of half a million people, the Nationalists declared victory in 1939 and Franco became the undisputed dictator of Spain until his death, in 1975, paved the way for a transition to democracy.
The Monument to Primero de Rivera
Of Granada´s most prominent reminders of the Franco era, perhaps the best-known - and one of the more controversial - is the monument to José Antonio Primo de Rivera in the Plaza Bibataubín, close to the El Corte Ingles department store in the city centre.
José Antonio Primo de Rivera was the son of Spain´s first dictator, Miguel Primo de Rivera. A lawyer by profession and a skilled orator, José Antonio founded the right-wing, Fascist-inspired Falange Party in 1933. He was executed by the Republicans in 1936, and Franco later absorbed the Falange into his autocratic, one-party system.
The monument was erected in 1972, just three years before Franco´s death, and consists of a work by the Granadino sculptor, Francisco Lopéz Burgos (1921-1997). It is displayed prominently next to a busy walk-way and is a representation of the official Nationalist salute, decreed in person by Franco in April 1937.
Street Names and Imperial Eagles
The other symbols dating from the dictator´s tenure are either more discrete or have been removed. The plaques of streets named in honour of "El Caudillo" have gone, and the imperial eagle that once adorned the entrance of Granada´s central post office has been replaced by the logo of the Spanish postal service.
Another eagle from those times still spreads its wings over Granada, however. This stylised representation can be seen in Avenida Capitan Moreno, not far from the Renaissance splendour of the Hospital Real. The building on which the eagle resides, was constructed in the 1940s as part of a military logistics centre and is now owned by the University of Granada; more specifically it houses the Vice-Rectorate for International Relations and Development Cooperation.
Interpreting The Past
Sites and monuments associated with the Franco era are certainly not unique to Granada. Cemetery walls across Spain were used as convenient execution grounds, and the sensitive debate regarding mass war graves is current, relevant and ongoing.
Every year in July, a ceremony takes place outside the Cementerio de San José to mark the beginning of the Nationalist uprising in 1936. Members of the Granada Association For The Recuperation Of Historical Memory, and other organisations, gather to fasten a plaque on the wall. This carries the words: "To the victims of ´Franquismo´shot against this wall for defending the legal democracy of the Republic".
Sadly, several days after the event, representatives of Granada´s right-wing Popular Party (PP) administration remove the plaque. At last, however, there are moves to declare the site a "Place of Historical Memory"; this follows rumours that the administration was planning to demolish the wall to enlarge the cemetery. That the site is not already a National Memorial to the victims of the Civil War is, to say the least, surprising.
Controversy also surrounds the Primo de Rivera monument. While art experts and the left-wing Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) have called for its removal on the grounds of its associations and a perceived lack of artistic merit, the Popular Party insists that it is worthy of preservation and should stay.
As so often happens, fundamental issues of humanity and remembrance have been subsumed by political manoeuvring. There is a third approach, and that is to preserve these symbols as a reminder of how the ideologies of a few powerfully-placed individuals can devastate the lives of millions.
While avoiding sensationalism at all costs, this is surely the best motive for preserving these monuments and locations. The challenge is how best to interpret their significance for those who want to see beneath the superficies of Spain´s more visually-appealing history.
References
A. Asensio, I. Adarre: El homenaje a los 3978 fusilados del cementerio será definitivo en febrero: 04/08/2011 www.granadahoy.com
Elena Lampart: El monumento de Primero de Rivera ´no tiene valor histórico ni artístico´: 26/06/2010 www.granadahoy.com
Elplural.com: Periódico Digital Progresista: La tapia del cementerio de Granada será Lugar de Memoria para honrar a las víctimas: 21/07/2011 www.elplural.com
Elplural.com: Periódico Digital Progresista: Un monumento en honor a Primo de Rivera sequirá presidiendo una plaza en Granada: 06/08/2011 www.elplural.com
Peter Ashby - Peter Ashby lives near Granada in southern Spain, is an expert on natural history, and a dedicated traveller, writer and hispanist.
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