The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, claimed on Thursday the importance of democratic memory in the act of recognition and personal reparation to Julián Quintana Ruiz, executed in 1939 after being condemned by an illegitimate war council of the Franco regime.
At the event, in which the Delegation also recognized the work on historical memory of researcher Antonio Ontañón, Gómez de Diego highlighted the commitment of the Government of Spain to historical reparation and Democratic Memory, stressing that “memory is democracy”.
Thus, he has highlighted the fundamental role of the Democratic Memory Law in returning dignity to the victims, highlighting the progress achieved: more than 5,600 exhumed bodies, 637 statements of recognition processed and the resignificance of spaces such as the Cuelgamuros Valley. "There is no tyrant whose work deserves to be extolled in a democracy like ours," he said.
Addressing the relatives of Julián Quintana, the delegate thanked them "for their generosity and courage", stressing that "memory is an act of care and love". He has also expressed his appreciation to the memorialist associations, "for their courageous and just struggle, and for keeping the light of memory alive."
Therefore, it has called for cultivating and defending memory as the best way to protect democracy against threats and involutionist postulates. "No democracy is built or consolidated on pacts of silence," he said, claiming the commitment of the Government of Spain to democratic values.
The delegate stressed that "history is written by the victors", pointing out how Franco's regime erased the memory of a Spain that fought for democracy and freedom, condemning it to exile, civil death and oblivion. "Today we pay tribute to that Spain that is an essential part of our identity, not to divide us, but to unite us in an objective and common democratic memory," he said.
In this way, he reiterated his commitment and that of the Executive for "giving voice, reparation and recognition, the unjust nature of the human rights violations suffered during the war and the dictatorship in Spain".
Gómez de Diego has concluded with a verse by Miguel Hernández: "There is a ray of sunshine in the struggle that always leaves the shadow vanquished," remembering that "memory is democracy."
Julián Quintana Ruiz
Julián Quintana Ruiz, master of works in the Forjas de los Corrales de Buelna, owner of the bar "Quintana" and militant of the General Union of Workers (UGT) and the Socialist Party, was arrested on August 27, 1937 by Francoist troops in Torrelavega. Tried in a summary trial, he was convicted of adhering to the military rebellion and executed on October 23, 1939. His remains were buried in a common grave of the municipal cemetery of Ciegan.
With this act of reparation and the statement issued, the Government of Spain declares illegal and illegitimate the court that condemned it and the sentence passed, recognizing Julián Quintana Ruiz as a victim of Franco’s repression. This recognition is part of the application of Law 20/2022, on Democratic Memory, which declares illegitimate the courts and resolutions issued for political, ideological, conscience or religious reasons during the Civil War and the dictatorship.
The event, attended by various political, military and civil authorities, was addressed by Aurora Ocejo, daughter and granddaughter of reprisals, who after thanking the victims for the act of reparation, made a plea in defense of "respect" against intolerance; and Antonio Ontañón, who recalled his activism in defense of labor rights during the Franco regime and his 40 years dedicated to the investigation of mass graves in Cantabria, with the identification of 1,200 people, in addition to demanding that they be carried out for investigations. In recognition of her work, the government delegate has given her a lithograph and a rose.
For her part, Ana Quintana, on behalf of her family, has shown her satisfaction because the declaration morally recovers the integrity and honesty of her grandfather, for whom she has assured they will continue to fight to exhume her remains.