Las Palmas compensates 150 public employees persecuted after the 1936 coup

The City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has honoured 150 public employees and councillors persecuted after the 1936 coup, in an event presided over by the Minister of Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres.

The Patio of the Consistorial Houses of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria hosted an emotional reparative event for the 150 public employees and councillors who suffered reprisals after the military coup of 1936. The tribute, which coincided with the 90th anniversary of the start of the military uprising, was attended by the Minister of Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the Mayor Carolina Darias.

An act of justice and memory

Torres recalled that it was in the Canaries, Ceuta, and Melilla where the "bloody and repressive military coup" began, and emphasised that the event sought "reparation, justice, and truth". The minister highlighted the figure of the last republican mayor of the capital, Luis Fajardo Ferrer, who was executed after defending the City Council on that July 18.

Mayor Carolina Darias, visibly moved, pointed out that the honoured individuals "chose loyalty to freedom and established legality", and that their families suffered "painful and irreparable consequences". Darias defended that democratic memory is "a moral and civic conviction" to build a solid future.

Reprisals in the former municipalities of Las Palmas and San Lorenzo

According to a study by historian Sergio Millares, commissioned by the City Council from the Association for Historical Memory of Arucas, in the then municipalities of Las Palmas and San Lorenzo —merged in 1940— about 150 public employees underwent purging processes. Additionally, 24 councillors were dismissed and four men were executed: Mayor Luis Fajardo, two employees from San Lorenzo (Juan Santana and Antonio Ramírez), and the inspector of the Municipal Guard of Las Palmas, Alberto Hernández.

The military regime dissolved the City Council of San Lorenzo in 1940 and annexed it to the capital as punishment. This act has also included the persecuted from that vanished municipality.

Plaque and recognitions for descendants

During the ceremony, a plaque in honour of the victims was unveiled and recognition and reparation declarations were presented to nine descendants of the honourees. Torres emphasised that "being born in democracy does not guarantee dying in democracy", and recalled that during the dictatorship "you could not love whom you wanted, you could not express your opinion, you could not gather".

For the Canary reader, this event represents another step in the recovery of the historical memory of the islands, where the coup had its starting point. The City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has reaffirmed its commitment to truth and justice, inviting citizens to reflect on the past to build a freer future.