Brigader descendants welcomed as Spanish citizens

Some 40 children and grandchildren of International Brigaders attended a reception on 1 December at the Spanish embassy in London to celebrate the granting of Spanish nationality to the descendants of International Brigade volunteers. 

In a moving ceremony (see links and photos below), Ambassador José Pascual Marco Martínez warmly welcomed the new compatriots and honoured their forebears who left their homes to fight for a free, democratic Spain.

Luis Cernuda's poem 1936, written after the poet met several American Brigaders, was also read out, including the lines: 

Gracias, compañero, gracias
Por el ejemplo. Gracias porque me dices
Que el hombre es noble.
Nada importa que tan pocos lo sean:
Uno, uno tan sólo basta
Como testigo irrefutable
De toda la nobleza humana.

In translation: Thank you, comrade, thank you /  For your example. Thank you for telling me / That man is noble. / No matter how few there are: / One, just one, is enough / As an irrefutable witness / Of all human nobility.

Spanish ambassador José Pascual Marco Martínez (foreground) welcomes children and grandchildren of International Brigaders as Spanish citizens. Photo: Richard Baxell

Speaking at the event on behalf of the families, Peter Crome, son of Brigader Len Crome, hailed the support work of Patricia Ure in Madrid, who helped descendants with their applications. Peter also remembered the 500 or so Brigaders who were killed in the civil war and remain in Spanish soil.

In his speech, IBMT Historical Consultant Richard Baxell chose to remember Eddie Swindells (1912-1937), a Brigader who arrived in Spain on 1 December 1936 and never returned home to Manchester.

Richard finished by paraphrasing Sam Lesser, one of the seven nonagenarian veterans presented with Spanish passports at a ceremony in 2009:  ‘Creo que, hoy, podemos decir que ustedes tambíen han llegado a casa.’ [I believe that, today, we can say that you too have arrived home]. 

The event follows the granting of Spanish nationality to the nearly 170 descendants of the International Brigades under the Democratic Memory Law. Commenting on the news, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said it was 'an honour to be able to call them compatriots'.

Report in English by the embassy
Report in Spanish on RTVE national Spanish news  
Video on Instagram and X (Twitter)

Outside the Spanish embassy in London, Frieda and Ian Park with a photo of grandfather Alec Park from Glasgow, who was killed at Belchite on 10 March 1938.

Richard Baxell.

Anne Azak, granddaughter of Robert Bridges, with Spanish ambassador José Pascual Marco Martínez. Bridges was from Leith and was killed in the Battle of Jarama on 27 February 1937.

Peter Crome.