Tarancón memorial to Republicans and Scottish volunteers renovated

From left: Tarancón memorial to Spanish Republicans and Scottish volunteers; Máximo Molina, ARMH Cuenca president, speaking at the unveiling of the renovated memorial on 22 January.

A memorial in the Castilian town of Tarancón, dedicated to Republicans killed during Franco’s repression and Scottish International Brigaders who fell during the civil war, has this month been restored with new plaques.

The plaques required updating both because two new Republican victims had been discovered and also because they had been damaged by far-right vandalism in 2016 and 2017. The restoration had been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The unveiling took place on 22 January, organised by the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH) of the province of Cuenca. More than thirty people, including town councillors, gathered at the memorial to lay flowers and wreaths in remembrance. Máximo Molina, president of the association and key activist in the remembrance and restoration of the town’s anti-fascist history, delivered a speech in tribute.

It is believed there are around 34 more Republican victims of the Franco regime buried in the village who have yet to be identified and added to the memorial list.

The town of Tarancón was the site of four hospitals which served the Jarama front. Máximo Molina and ARMH Cuenca have been working with the regional government on a project, nearing completion, to restore the Hospitalillo de Santa Emilia – one of the facilities used by the International Brigades.

Earlier this month ARHM Cuenca published a short book titled ‘Red Tarancón’, featuring various biographies of medical staff and fighters, including Republican and and international volunteers, who worked or died in the town during the course of the Spanish Civil War.

Máximo Molina will be speaking at the IBMT’s 2022 Len Crome Memorial Conference, on the struggle to maintain and restore the anti-fascist heritage of Tarancón. The event is due to take place on 19 March at the University of Edinburgh. Further details and tickets are available via Eventbrite here.

Posted on 29 January 2022.