Carnations in the sea and painful memories of lives lost during Spain's Civil War, on a Costa del Sol beach

Juan Muñoz has always been closely linked to what happened in Malaga on 7 February 1937. Now his daughter, Paqui, and his granddaughter, Marina have joined other people who are walking the road from Malaga to Almería to remember those who tried to flee Malaga as Franco's troops entered the city in what is known as one of the darkest chapters in Spain's Civil War, the 'Desbandá'.

"He never stopped fighting for Memory", says the granddaughter of Juan Muñoz, who died just a month ago and was always involved in keeping the memory of what happened to thousands of people in Malaga during the Civil War alive. He fought to give a voice to La Desbandá, when it is believed that up to 300,000 civilians fled Malaga, hoping to reach the relative safety of Almeria, along what is now known as the N-340 coastal road.

Now it is Paqui, Marina and other people who take over from those like Juan Muñoz and raise their voices for the victims of that terrible episode in the emotional tribute held at the Peñón del Cuervo on Sunday 9 February to mark the 88th anniversary of the massacre.

But this was not just another anniversary. Not only because of the very recent death of Juan Muñoz, but also because on 7 February, on the 88th anniversary of La Desbandá, the Official State Bulletin (BOE) officially recognised it as a Place of Democratic Memory. This act of symbolism was the highlight of the tribute, which was attended by representatives and militants of Spain's socialist PSOE political party, members of the Asociación contra el Silencio y el Olvido por la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (association against silence and forgetting for the recovery of historical memory) and citizens who did not want to miss the annual commemorative event.

"It was mainly women and children who died on this road and that is one of the important reasons why we are here. We must remember what happened and raise awareness, because we are the spearhead of democracy," said the government's representative in Malaga, Javier Salas.

Among the PSOE representatives was also the secretary general of the PSOE in Malaga, Daniel Pérez, who remembered his relatives who were present at La Desbandá. "My grandparents also fled Riogordo, my grandfather was arrested and imprisoned. This was the great barbarity of the Spanish Civil War; it was La Desbandá," said Pérez.

Vice-president of the association, Rafael Molina, said: "What was experienced at that time is beginning to be experienced now, that is why we have to vindicate memory and history."

Juan Muñoz's granddaughter, Marina, brought literature to the event. A moment in which silence, oblivious to the families preparing their barbecues on the Peñón del Cuervo, recited a poem dedicated to her grandfather. "Thanks to my mother for being a fighter and for passing on to us the family values so intact. I wrote this poem years ago, but now it makes more sense than ever", Marina said before reciting the verses.

After a long and emotional applause, those attending the tribute went down to the shore of the Peñón del Cuervo beach and carried out the final tradition of this event: throwing carnations into the sea. More than fifty red flowers filled the shore with everyone throwing them at the same time.