August 24 and 25, coinciding with the date of entry of the allied troops into the French capital after the defeat of Nazism.

In this statement the Government recalls and pays tribute to the participation of the Spaniards who, enlisted in the ninth company of General Philippe Leclerc, were the first soldiers to make their entry into Paris on August 24, 1944. These 150 Spaniards had participated on August 1 in the Normandy landing and with armored vehicles labeled with Spanish names (Jarama, Madrid, Santander, Ebro, Teruel, Guernica, Belchite, Guadalajara, Brunete, etc.…) they were liberating different French cities on their way to the capital.

The government underlines the decisive role they played in shaping the current European democratic memory and considers it necessary to pay tribute to their defence of freedom.

Therefore, it decides to pay tribute to them within the framework of the events organized by the City of Paris in which the Government of Spain participates, through the Ministry of Justice.

The institutional declaration approved in the Council of Ministers recalls that thousands of Republican exiles participated actively in the struggle for the liberation of France during the four years that the Nazi occupation lasted and had a significant presence in the French foreign legion, the battalions of foreign workers or the resistance of the guerrillas. Many of them died in that fight and were recognized and decorated as heroes by the French authorities.

His sacrifice is remembered and recognized as the junction point of Spain’s history with European democratic history.

The celebrations in Paris coincide with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish republican exile that led more than 450,000 Spaniards to leave Spain for political reasons.