The subdelegate of the Government in Ourense, Eladio Santos, attended this morning the events in memory of the imprisoned and executed people of the prison of Celanova, organized by the team of the Plan of Democratic Memory of Galicia, the City of Celanova and the Association of Memory of Celanova.
The room of the old refectory of the Monastery, authorized as a prison in 1936, hosted the viewing of a documentary on the exhumation in the parish cemetery of San Breixo that took place in 2022. Then, those present moved to the cemetery of San Breixo for the inauguration of two monuments commemorating the exhumates and all the prisoners killed in the prison-monastery, in which relatives of the same also participated.
During his speech, the government’s deputy clearly stressed that “we are here to honor the victims. And also to not forget that where there are victims, there are executioners. It is our duty to repair their memory and free them from any possible indictment.”
Santos emphasized the principles contained in the Democratic Memory Act of 2022, such as truth, justice, reparation and the guarantee of non-repetition. “They are the objective of this law and of the Government of Spain, but all administrations must commit themselves. It is not a matter of story, it is a matter of science or negationism, and the Government of Spain is always with science,” he said.
In this normative context, the Government is committed to memory recovery by creating four-year plans and also transferring funding to communities every year. Thus, Galicia received 400,000 euros within the last plan and another 200,000 euros were allocated on the occasion of the annual renewal of items and for the commission of the State to the Histagra Group of the elaboration of the census of victims of the War and of the dictatorship.
Santos took the opportunity to congratulate “the Historical Memory Committee of the Region of Celanova and the Histagra Group, for their commitment to the recovery and repair of our memory and congratulations also for the recent responsibility of preparing the state census of victims, a work that is a recognition of what has been done so far on the blackest period of our recent history.”
The event was also attended by the Mayor of Celanova, Antonio Puga; the magnificent rector of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Antonio López; the Professor of Contemporary History of the USC and coordinator of the Democratic Memory Plan of Galicia, Lourenzo Fernández; the President of the Committee of Historical Memory of the Region of Celanova, Celia Inés Feijóo; the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García; the Councillor of Land Planning, Urbanism, Housing and Rights Citizens of Zapanta.