The entire urban environment of Gernika-Lumo will be declared a ‘Place of Memory’ for the bombing suffered during the Spanish War (1936-1939)

01/03/2024

Vitoria, March 1, 2024 The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has announced, in Vitoria, that this month the declaration of the entire urban environment of Gernika-Lumo as ‘Place of Memory’ will be published in the BOE. “After opening the file, we have collected the allegations raised, which were, above all, about expanding the space, and we are in a position to complete the process for the consideration of the locality as ‘Place of Memory’.

This declaration of the entire environment of Gernika-Lumo as “Place of Memory” is a milestone achieved thanks to the contributions of the Basque institutions, the University and the memorialist entities of Gernika.

On the other hand, Minister Torres participated in the floral offering dedicated to the victims of March 3, 1976, together with the mayor of the capital of Alava, Maider Etxebarria; the delegate of the Government in the Basque Country, Denis Itxaso; and the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez.

Torres has taken up the request of the City of Vitoria to declare the church of San Francisco de Asís, at whose exit the workers were shot by the security forces, as ‘Place of Memory’. The minister said that the petition will be studied “to restore the memory of this place where workers died and where democracy and freedom were defended.” The head of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory also announced that the central government has appropriated a budget of 600,000 euros in the State Budget Project of 2024, which is awaiting approval, for the Fundación 3 de marzo. This amount is intended for the works of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi and its conversion into a Memorial Center.