Vitoria massacre
This article may be a rough translation from Catalan. It may have been generated, in whole or in part, by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency. (August 2020) |
On March 3, 1976, the Spanish Armed Police Corps used tear gas to force the workers on strike out of the parish Church of San Francisco de Asís in the Basque capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz (or in Spanish; Vitoria). As the workers left the church, they were shot by the police, resulting in 5 dead and 150 injured with gunshot wounds. The same police later described the events as a massacre. The event inspired Lluís Llach to write the celebrated song Campanades a morts.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Background
In January 1976, some six thousand workers initiated a strike against the decree to limit wage increases and in defence of better working conditions. Two months later, they called for the third time for a general strike massively followed on 3 March. This same day the armed police entered the Church of San Francisco in Vitoria-Gasteiz where the workers were gathering and asked them to leave despite the opposition of the priest and the agreement signed by the Catholic Church and the Spanish Government stating that the police were not to enter any churches by force. Just a few seconds later, the police used tear gas inside the church, which was crowded. As suffocating workers tried to escape, they were beaten up and shot by the Spanish police.
Pedro María Martínez Ocio, 27, Francisco Aznar Clemente, 17, Romualdo Barroso Chaparro, 19, and José Castillo, 32, were shot dead. Bienvenido Pereda died later on. Hundreds more were injured, many with gunshot wounds.
That same week
Consequences
Those incidents fueled the action of the
The events also showed once again that the Catholic Church was no longer supporting the dictatorship and in some aspects was much closer to workers' demands.
Reparation and recognition of the victims
After the investiture of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the presidency of the Spanish government, the group of the Basque Nationalist Party in the Senate issued a question enquiring about the events and calling for an investigation.[8]
In 2006, the law of Historical Memory considered the victims to be victims of the
On March 3, 2006,
The police recording
The police recording[12] showing how the police were very much aware of what was going on and in fact planned the shooting of workers shocked many in Spain and elsewhere.[citation needed]
References
- ^ (in Spanish) «Masacre del 3 de marzo en Vitoria-Gasteiz (1976)», Library and Documentation Center of the Artium Museum, Vitoria-Gasteiz.
- ^ (in Catalan) Lluís DANÈS: Llach, la revolta permanent, Mediapro / Bainet Zinema, 2006.
- ^ (in Catalan) «Andoni Txasko: 'La nostra pretensió era de fer seure Fraga al banc dels acusats'».
- ^ (in Spanish) «Lakua homenajea a los trabajadores tiroteados por la Policía Armada en 1976», El Mundo, 3 March 2012.
- ^ (in Spanish) «Las cuentas pendientes de don Manuel» Archived 2012-07-29 at archive.today, Deia, 17 January 2012.
- ^ (in Spanish) «Los fantasmas de Fraga», Público, 17 January 2012.
- ^ (in Spanish) «El día en que la policía de Fraga disparó contra una asamblea», Público, 18 January 2012.
- ^ "Archived copy" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Official Gazette of the Spanish General Courts, Senate, VIII term, no. 39, 18 January 2004. - ^ Malaina, Guillermo (2008-02-13). "Los fantasmas de Fraga". Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-07-15.
- ^ (in Spanish) [1]
- ^ (in Spanish) [2] Archived 2011-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Armentia, Iker (2014-11-01). ""Aquí ha habido una masacre, cambio"". Cadena SER (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2017-06-13.