The government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, appealed to the importance of “today more than ever, knowing the truth and keeping alive the memory to fight against political violence and totalitarianism”. He did so during the institutional event organized this morning by the Government Delegation in memory of Francisco Pérez Carballo, the last Republican civilian governor of A Coruña, and his wife, Juana Capdevielle. The mayor of A Coruña, Inés Rey, the subdelegate in the province, María Rivas, and the provincial deputy, Bernardo Fernández, also participated. Also present were the nephew of the civil governor, Francisco Pérez-Carballo Veiga, and the rector of the Universidade da Coruña (UDC), Ricardo Cao.
In his speech, the government delegate stressed that this tribute “is an act of justice, recognition and reparation”, which responds to the mandate of the Democratic Memory Law and aims to promote knowledge of the democratic stages of Spain’s history, keep alive the memory of war and dictatorship and ensure the non-repetition of any form of political violence. “There is no revenge or revanchism, but truth, justice and memory,” he said, while claiming that “knowing what happened is a right of the victims and their families and also a collective duty as a democratic society.”
Thus, when it was 89 years since the assassination of the governor and his wife at the hands of the coup plotters, a commemorative plaque was placed in the Subdelegation of the Government in A Coruña, in memory of both.
The event is framed within the activities programmed by the Government Delegation in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Spain in Freedom, a program that reaffirms the commitment of the Government of Spain to the Democratic Memory Law and that seeks to recognize the victims of Franco’s repression and ensure that political violence and totalitarianism have no place in our present and our future.
Therefore, the delegate appealed “to exercise our rights and comply with the Democratic Memory Law, because the elderly cannot forget and young people must know to be able to value the achievements achieved, because social achievements and rights only come in times of democracy.”
Francisco Pérez Carballo was a lawyer, university professor and Republican militant, nominated civil governor of A Coruña by the Government of Azaña in April 1936 when he was only 25 years old. When the coup d’état took place, he resisted at the headquarters of the Civil Government (the current headquarters of the Provincial Council library), until he was forced to surrender. He was arrested, imprisoned in the prison of the Tower and shot shortly afterwards. At the prison, he wrote a touching farewell letter to his wife, Juana Capdevielle, which was quoted today by the government delegate: “Juana! You were the most beautiful in my life. Wherever I am and as long as I can think, I will think of you. It will be as if we had been together. kiss your ring once a day. I love you.” Paco.”
She, an intellectual and librarian, was also arrested and shot dead a month later in the vicinity of the Lucense municipality of Rábade. The figures of Pérez Carballo and Capdevielle were already recognized over the years by the city of A Coruña in various ways. This tribute is another step in the conservation and repair of their memory and in the fight against oblivion.