The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, presided today, in Almería, the act of rebuking the remains of ‘Los Coloraos’, a group of 22 liberals who were killed by absolutism, on August 24, 1824, for defending the Constitution of 1812.

“The Government of Spain complies with the memory of these martyrs to raise the voice for freedom, peace and justice among peoples,” said the minister, who has been accompanied by the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez; by the deputy delegate of the Government in Almería, José María Martín; by the mayor of Almería, María del Mar Vázquez; by the delegate of the Government of the Junta de Andalucía in Almería, Aránzazu Martín; and by the president of the Bicentenario Association of ‘Los Coloraravos’, Carmen Assa.

After the exhumation of the bodies of the Cemetery of San José and Santa Adela – under the supervision of Dr. Francisco Etxeberria – and their subsequent funeral car transfer, the homage and burial took place before the monument to these ‘Martyrs of Freedom’, which was already declared ‘Place of Memory’ in the summer of 2024, during the year of the bicentenary of these events.

The minister recalled that “in the midst of the absolutist repression of Fernando VII, a group of brave men landed on the coasts of Almería with a single objective: to bring freedom, justice and rights for the people.” He has also indicated that “their adventure” ended tragically and that many of them were captured and shot, and their bodies buried “without honor.”

Torres explained that “their sacrifice was not in vain: it was engraved in the memory of this people, who never forgot the echo of their gesture, despite the fact that intolerance and ignorance sought to silence them and the Franco dictatorship even destroyed their monument of homage.”

The head of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory wanted to highlight that totalitarianism could not overshadow the noble acts of ‘Los Coloraos’, “thanks to a handful of men and women from Almería, including my Secretary of State [Fernando Martínez], who insisted on remembering that freedom is not achieved without sacrifice or commitment.”

The mayor, María del Mar Vázquez, has remarked that this act “is a sign of civic identity that symbolizes the link of Almerian society with a historical fact, to which the City Council pays solemn annual tribute every August 24”.

First plaque of ‘Place of Memory’ in Spain

On July 31, 2024, and after its publication in the BOE on July 9, the minister was able to unveil, before the monument of the ‘Martyrs of Freedom’ of Almeria, the first plaque that recognized a ‘Place of Democratic Memory’ in Spain, which was described by Torres as “a historical fact”.

He also valued those martyrs, whose hull color inspired the appellation of ‘Los Coloraos’; who were shot “on their knees and on their backs,” and who “loved freedom above their own lives.”