Today, Sunday, is the fifth holding of the March in Remembrance of the Victims of the Almeria Road which this year is dedicated to the villages of the interior of the area and entitled ‘Exodus from the Interior’.
The walk is between Ventas de Zafarraya and La Viñuela and is sponsored by the Forum for the Historical Memory of the Axarquia.
The events commemorate the mass exodus from the area in 1937 along the Almeria road after the Franco forces captured the city of Málaga.
At 14:00, tribute will be paid to the victims of the long march at a ceremony being held in the parque del río in La Viñuela.
There will also be marches, along different routes, for the next two Sundays.
Over 100,000 people fled the area along the road to Almeria after Franco’s troops captured Málaga and began the systematic execution of at least 4,000 Republicans.
For two weeks, Nationalist forces,with German and Italian support, attacked the column of fleeing refugees from the air and from the sea and right up until the 1960’s, drivers along the road would regularly find skeletons of the victims of the atrocity.
marie tappin says:
If I could be in Spain at this time I would certainly join the processions. It was only when I read Victoria Hislop’s book ‘The Return’ that I learned the extent of the terrible attrocities inflicted on not only the fleeing natives of Malaga but the whole country (especially Madrid) by Franco and his supporters.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Spanish Civil War.