IBMT Scotland Secretary reports from the commemorations in Spain between 20 and 22 February 2026...

The third weekend in February has, since 2007, seen eyes turn to Madrid and AABI’s annual commemoration of the Battle of Jarama. This year saw their 18th Annual Jarama March, with the focus on the role in the battles around Madrid played by the French ‘Commune de Paris’ Battalion, then part of the XI International Brigade.

Over two dozen participants from the UK and Ireland, within a loose IBMT ‘affinity group’, attended the weekend, including the IBMT’s Secretary, Scotland Secretary and Joint Ireland Secretary. A slightly larger group from Friends of the International Brigade Ireland (Fibi) were also, as usual, in attendance.

These groups came together on Friday 20th February to attend the 14th Annual Commemoration at Tarancón, where the 39 Scots who fell at Jarama in 1937 are remembered alongside Tarancón's civilian victims of the dictatorship, the town's fallen who served fighting against the forces of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco and those Spaniards and Internationals who died in the town's Republican hospitals.

We were again indebted to Fibi (Friends of the International Brigades in Ireland ), whose bus from Madrid we all shared, and ARMH Cuenca (the local association for the recovery of historical memory), who organised the ceremony in the Municipal Cemetery and whose President, Maximo Molina, again chaired the commemoration, despite convalescing from recent surgery.

Among the Scots attending were Lorraine McGarry, whose grandfather Allan Craig was killed at Jarama, and Sandy and George Clarke, whose uncle Tom was wounded there. Lorraine’s father, Allan Craig Jnr, had instigated the initial commemoration in 2011 by planting an olive tree and placing a plaque to his father and to his 38 Scottish comrades who had fallen at Jarama. The olive tree was in full fruit on the day of the ceremony.

Left: descendants and supporters gather in Tarancón; right: the plaque presented by the local council to the IBMT.

At the start of the ceremony, the Ayuntamiento (council) of Tarancón presented plaques to Mike Arnott of the IBMT and John Bruen of Fibi to mark their thanks for the two organisations’ commitment to historical memory, solidarity and justice.

George Clarke read the roll of the 39 Scots dead, alternating with the names of the Tarancón civilian victims, read by 2010 European 1500m Gold Medallist, Professor Arturo Casado. Irish Brigader’s daughter Brenda O’Riordan sang Christy Moore’s ‘Viva la Quinta Brigada’ and read Mary Brooksbank’s poem ‘Graves in Spain’.

Other contributions touched on the remains of hundreds of victims, exhumed at Ucles Monastery by ARMH Cuenca since 2004, which are still waiting for Government funding for DNA analysis, and on the activities of COT, who fight for recognition and justice for those killed campaigning on Spain's streets, and those detained and tortured, during Spain’s ‘transition to democracy' in the mid to late 70s.

The Ayuntamiento had arranged for the gates of the former Hospitalillo de Santa Emilia to be unlocked to allow us to visit and, while it was great to get access, we can only acknowledge the frustration of ARMH Cuenca, and indeed our own, that the decades of neglect of the building show no sign of being addressed, despite its status as a building of historical interest, a physical witness to the Civil War in the town and a unique representation of the role played by Tarancón’s Republican Military Hospitals.

Left: supporters at the commemoration in Tarancón; right: the Hospitalillo de Santa Emilia, the Republican hospital.

At lunch, the tradition of passing round Hamish Drummond’s hat was again observed, with over €1000 being raised to support the ongoing work of ARMH Cuenca. A record.

Saturday 21 saw us leave Madrid, on coaches organised by AABI and Fibi, and head to the battlefield of Jarama to walk the positions of the ‘Commune de Paris’ Battalion. After a 4km walk, we moved to the famous Arganda Bridge, which was a focal point of the Commune de Paris’s involvement at Jarama. It was at this point that our Fibi comrades moved on to Rivas-Vaciamadrid for their own commemoration at the Charlie Donnolly and Eddie O’Neill memorials there.

At lunch, Mike Arnott was presented by the author, leading AABI historian Seve Montero, with a signed copy, dedicated to the IBMT, of his 2025 book ‘Las Brigadas Internacionales, Mes a Mes’.

Left: Mike Arnott with historian Seve Montero; centre: the Arganda Bridge; right: Taberna Garibaldi, which hosted the Cuba Solidarity fundraising social.

Sunday is rarely a ‘free day’ for us in Madrid but on this occasion, a large number of us were able to attend a glorious Cuba Solidarity Fundraising Social at the stupendous Taberna Garibaldi in the Calle de Miguel Servet. Even Hamish sang. Twice. This venue will surely establish itself as a firm favourite at future ‘Jarama March’ expeditions. With next year being the 90th anniversary of Jarama, an even larger IBMT contingent should be anticipated.

Special mention must be made of the outstanding compassion and solidarity shown to one of our group, who fell ill on the Friday at Tarancón, by Pablo Hernández and his partner Xiomara. This included travelling with our comrade and his wife to the clinic in Tarancón, then to the hospital in Cuenca, staying with them until he was discharged, then ferrying them both back to Madrid.

Photos: Lorraine and Gerry McGarry