Paris (France)

With the aim of strengthening relations and a joint participation in the events commemorating 80 years of the Liberation of Paris that will be held next summer, within the cycle of commemoration of the Liberation of France, Patricia Miralles, Secretary of State for Veterans and Memory and Fernando Martínez, Spanish Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, have met on August 24 in Paris.

In the framework of the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Nazi occupation, and on a symbolic date, August 24, in which tribute has been paid to the Spaniards of "La Diez", both secretaries have held a meeting dedicated to the memory shared by France and Spain. Patricia Miralles and Fernando Martinez talked about the place occupied by the Spanish Republicans of the Nine in the 2nd Armored Division and their contribution to the Liberation of Paris in August 1944, a fact little known in both countries.

More broadly, France maintains a close relationship with the Spanish republican memory, in particular through the support of the government of the Popular Front to the Spanish republicans in 1936 or by the Withdrawal, in 1939 which forced thousands of Spanish republican families to seek refuge in France.

Patricia Miralles and Fernando Martinez López have highlighted the democratic values of freedom, progress and peace shared by France and Spain, as well as the defense of memory "as an essential element of democracies", and have expressed the desire of France and Spain to continue working together in the common memory of both countries. This meeting has provided the opportunity for both countries to affirm the same desire to strengthen their cooperation in historical and memory matters.