Historical memory

New memorial for Civil War prisoners

The ceremony at the amphitheatre. | Joan Socies

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterCampos10/02/2019 08:38

The Council of Majorca have inaugurated the first memorial in Majorca for Republican prisoners who were held in concentration camps during the Civil War and were obliged to build roads.

A ceremony was held on Friday at Banys de Sant Joan de la Font Santa in Campos. This is where the first concentration camp was established. Prisoners were transferred to it from Bellver Castle and other makeshift prisons.

The infrastructure department at the Council has created a small amphitheatre and has put up information panels which explain what the Font Santa concentration camp signified. The infrastructure councillor, Mercedes Garrido, observed that prisoners worked on building 100 kilometres of road in Majorca.

The president of the Council, Miquel Ensenyat, noted that the memorial should have been created much earlier. He said: "We should not forget people who committed the crime of having dreamt of a fairer world, who fought for an education and for health."

Government ministers Catalina Cladera and Fanny Tur attended the ceremony. The mayor of Campos, Sebastià Sagreras, did not. The only representative from the town hall was a PSOE councillor, Paco Blasco.