The commissioner for the celebration of Spain’s 50th anniversary in freedom today paid tribute in the Azkuna Zentroa - Alhóndiga Bilbao to the neighbourhood movements that, during the Transition, played an essential role in the construction of democracy from the local level.
The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez, has pointed out that “the neighborhood movement has been an authentic school of citizenship that trained us in democratic practices and a hotbed for creating awareness in the fight for freedoms and democracy in Spain.” He also recalled that the protagonists of these mobilizations “contributed to the recovery of democracy in Spain and, especially, to the improvement of the neighborhoods of our cities. Their solidarity made every traffic light achieved, every dispensary and school in operation or every bus that was able to reach the neighborhood, a collective conquest.”
For her part, Carmina Gustrán, Commissioner for the Celebration of Spain’s 50th Anniversary in Freedom, has stressed that “the struggles of the neighbourhood movements constituted an undeniable factor of democratization and expansion of rights and welfare to broader sectors of the population.” In this regard, he added that “access to housing and essential public services remain today basic rights that must continue to be claimed and enforced if we want a healthy democracy. Many of the struggles of the neighborhood movement are still alive: we must be vigilant; the freedoms and rights won must be nurtured and strengthened day by day.”
At the event, the Declarations of Recognition and Reparation were given to 16 women and men linked to neighborhood associations. In this way, the State expressly assumes its obligation to protect, maintain and promote the democratic memory of these people and neighborhood groups who, from the neighborhoods, fought for basic rights such as decent housing, access to health, public education, social services and the improvement of living conditions in cities and towns throughout Spain. At a time marked by repression, uncertainty and the collective desire for change, thousands of anonymous people organized themselves into neighborhood associations to demand social justice, democratic participation and territorial equity.
The tribute emphasizes that democracy was built not only in the institutions, but also in the squares, in the civic centers, in the neighborhood assemblies, where networks of solidarity were woven and consensus was forged that anticipated and accompanied the political changes. Today, half a century later, those struggles are still alive in the conquered rights.
With the participation of representatives of historic neighborhood associations, institutions and experts in democratic memory, this event seeks to project to the present the legacy of a movement that helped make democracy real from below. A tribute to those who, on the margins, built a center.
Declarations of recognition and reparation to:
JULIA MANZANERA GONZÁLEZ (Zamora,1945)
From an early age he worked with the organization Young Christian Workers. He knew at first hand the hardships and precariousness of the shanty towns and turned to his help. He participated in the acts of solidarity with the “Strike of Bands”, carried out by the staff of Lamination of Cold Bands of Etxebarri, Bizkaia, throughout the 163 days of duration. It was the longest labor conflict during the Franco era. President of the Family Association of Otxarkoaga, the working-class district of Bilbao that housed chabolists from emigration, from 1974 to 1977.
PRISCILIANO CASTRO LOPEZ (Talayuela, Cáceres, 1945)
At the age of 18 he moves with his wife, Tita, to Madrid, where they will live in the shanty town of Pozo Blanco, in Orcasitas, and then to Moratalaz. He promoted the “bread war” that under the motto “Bread, work and freedom”, in Moratalaz, ended the fraud of the peso (about 200 grs. less for each bar). His most prominent struggles have been for public and protected housing, the rehabilitation of outlying neighborhoods, and the eradication of undergrowth and chauvinism. In 1966 he joined the then clandestine Communist Party of Spain and CC OO. He has been president for 17 years of the Regional Federation of Neighborhood Associations.
MARÍA DEL CARMEN AVENDAÑO OTERO (Vigo, Pontevedra, 1945)
A pioneer in the fight against drug trafficking and a neighbourhood activist, she was president of the Neighbourhood Association “Lavadores”, in Vigo. He led the historic “Mothers Against Drugs” mobilizations. He lost two children, suffering from addiction. The photo of his entry into the Pazo de Bayón, crossing the entrance gates, property of the drug trafficker Laureano Oubiña, is a social symbol. “La Voz de Galicia” Award for Solidarity, Justice and Society Award, and Galicia Award for Women.
JUAN JOSÉ RECA VICARÍA (Hospitalet, Barcelona, 1931)
He arrived in Linares, Jaén, in 1976 from Barcelona, where he had worked in the neighborhood movement of Hospitalet. It joins the neighborhood association of San José and creates the Himilce de Linares Federation. Together with other companions from Úbeda, Andújar and Jaén form the Provincial Confederation of Jaén. More than fifty years at the service of the neighbors and neighbors of Linares.
MARÍA ARRONDO ARRONDO (Fustiñana, Navarra, 1944)
Emigrant in France since 1962, he showed his commitment to the Emigrant Youth Movement, with national and European responsibility. He returned in the middle of the Transition and joined the neighborhood movement. He was part of the first democratic city council in Zaragoza, and from there he collected the neighborhood demands, putting in place, among others, the family planning services. She was Councillor for Social Welfare and Health, and coordinator of the Women's Commission in the FEMP.
CARLOS TREVILLA ACEBO (Bilbao, 1945)
Priest of the working-class district of Zabala, in Bilbao, he represents the base church that covered the incipient neighborhood movement in the area. From 1974 to 1977 he was coordinator of the Union Sindical Obrera in the issue of neighborhoods that, at that time, represented more than nine presidents of neighborhood associations of Bizkaia. He was secularized and became a soldier in the workers’ movement, being general secretary of the UGT of the Basque Country for several years.
MARIA BENARDITA CARAVERA BADA (Caravia, Asturias, 1945)
This neighborhood activist joins the Women’s Voice, forming part of the first Women’s Council of the City of Gijón, in those first years in which the struggle for women’s rights began. She participated at a national level in Mujeres Vecinas. President of the Neighborhood Association of La Arena and the URBAN Federation of Gijón. Silver medal of the city of Gijón in recognition of its fight for the welfare of all neighbors and neighbors. After almost thirty years of militancy, it is still active.
JOSÉ MOLINA BLÁZQUEZ (Madrid,1947)
With more than 50 years of militancy in the Madrid neighborhood movement, he is still president of the Association of Neighbors of Palomeras Sureste and has been vice-president of the Regional Federation of AA VV of Madrid. His study of the memory of Vallecas has led him to publish different works on the characters, streets, and experiences of the Vallecans. He contributed to the creation of Vallecas Todo Cultura and Vallecas Calle del Libro.
MILAGROS GARCÍA FENOLL (Albacete, 1940)
Marroquinera, at the age of 19, travels to Sao Paulo (Brazil), where she participates in the Women’s Democratic Movement of Spain and joins the Communist Party of Spain. She returns to Madrid where they arrest her husband who will spend almost four years in Carabanchel prison. During this time, she participates in the Union of Women of Political Prisoners and founded the Neighborhood Association of Comillas, her neighborhood, in Carabanchel. The "Pasionaria de Comillas" contributed in 2002 to the creation of the Council of Women of the Municipality of Madrid.
DOMINGO LABORDA CARRIÓN (Valencia, 1948)
Historical neighborhood leader of the neighborhood of Benimaclet, in Valencia. Founder and president of the AA VV Federation of L’Horta València (currently, Federación Vecinal de València). He played a fundamental role in the early 1980s in the debates and in the development of the general urban planning plan of the city of Valencia.
GUARDIANSHIP MORENO RIVERO (Granada,1943)
Neighborhood activist and emblematic figure in the Carmelo neighborhood, in Barcelona. She was the first woman from the barracks to go to university and studied nursing without having electricity in the barracks. Linked from a young age to the neighborhood movement, in 1968 he is part of the promoter group of the Carmelo Social Center. He was always at the head of the neighborhood mobilizations, especially for the public school. Medal of Honor of Barcelona.
JORDI GASULL I BATLLÉ (1943, Viladamat, Gerona)
Founder of the former CAVE, secretary of the Confederation of Neighborhood Associations of Catalonia and treasurer, and important part, of the creation of the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies. He coordinated at the state level the project 'Entreneighbors' for the insertion of people at risk of exclusion, and played an active role in the well-known campaign "the war of the water bill" in Barcelona.
CARMEN GONZÁLEZ RAMOS (Valladolid, year 1950)
He promoted the creation of the first neighborhood association of the neighborhood of San Andrés de Valladolid, which is still active. He participated in the creation of the Federation of Neighborhood Associations Antonio Machado, the CAVECAL Confederation and a housing cooperative in the neighborhood of Villa del Prado. Among other initiatives, he was part of the Citizen Security Bureau for the defense and eradication of drugs in several neighborhoods of the city, and fought until he obtained the relocation of the residents of the town of La Esperanza, in the neighborhood of Los Pajarillos, in Valladolid.
LEANDRO SANCHEZ MARTINEZ (Cartagena, Murcia, 1966)
Neighborhood activist in Cartagena and president of the AA VV Federation on several occasions. He created the Platform “Salvemos el Rosell” to fight for a quality Public Health, with which he managed to avoid the closure of the Hospital Santa María del Rosell. He also worked for public education, sustainable and environmental development, citizen security, social integration and cohesion, and the rights of consumers and users. He has been in charge of the great mobilizations in defense of the Mar Menor.
CARMEN BERLANGA GONZÁLEZ (Villalba del Rey, Cuenca, 1944)
A grassroots activist in the Marxalenes district of Valencia, she was a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Valencia in the second decade of the two thousand years. Tireless in defending the independence of the neighborhood movement, he worked to get the Turia River transformed into a great green space for the city and also to achieve the recovery of El Saler for the enjoyment of citizenship.
JOSÉ RICARDO ÁLVAREZ DOMÍNGUEZ (Zaragoza, 1945)
He settled in Torrero-La Paz when he finished his degree in Physical Sciences at the University of Zaragoza. President of the Neighborhood Association of Torrero, from the neighborhood movement participated in multiple activities and struggles to achieve basic services such as urbanization and street asphalt, school area and health center, among others. Since 1976 he participated in the creation of neighborhood associations that would form the urban neighborhood group of Zaragoza, the germ of the current Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Zaragoza.