Costas mark 85th anniversary of 'La Desbandá'
The term refers to a massacre of thousands of civilians who were fleeing Malaga city during the Spanish Civil War
JENNIE RHODES
Friday, 11 February 2022
A number of events have taken place in the Malaga and Granada provinces this week to mark the 85th anniversary of 'La Desbandá'.
The term is used for the massacre of 1,000s of civilians as they tried to flee Malaga city towards Almeria on 8 February 1937, during Spain's Civil War.
As Franco's troops entered the city, it is believed that around 150,000 people (although some sources suggest that it is more like 300,000) mainly women, children and elderly people, fled along what is now known as the N-340 road that runs from La Cala del Moral along the coast to Almeria.
Tragically, on 8 February 1937, Francoist planes and ships dropped bombs and fired at the refugees, killing and injuring thousands of people.
The only known footage that exists of the events is a series of photographs taken by the Canadian doctor Norman Bethune, who treated the injured along the way.
More recently there have been testaments from survivors themselves or the families of those who made it to Almeria and beyond.
One of those people is Auxiliadora Jiménez, whose mother, grandmother and other family members were among those who left Malaga. After arriving at Almeria they went on to start a new life in Valencia.
Jiménez spoke at the Peñón del Cuevo (on the border between La Cala del Moral and Malaga), which is known as 'kilometre 0' of the N-340, during an act of remembrance on Sunday. Red carnations were thrown into the sea and left by a plaque at the site. "What happened here can never be forgotten," she said.
The annual gathering is organised by the Asociación contra el Silencio y el Olvido y por la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (Association against Silence and Forgetting and for the Recovery of Historical Memory). Members of the association set out to walk to Almeria, which they had done for five years before the pandemic.
Later on the same day, the group reached Salobreña in Granada province, where a new monument to honour the victims was unveiled.
Benalmádena town hall is hosting a photographic, painting and sculpture exhibition at the Centro de Exposiciones in Avenida Antonio Machado. 'Retornos de la Desbandá' focuses on the photographs taken by Norman Bethune. It can be visited from tomorrow, Saturday, from 10am until 1.30pm, and from 5pm until 7.30pm.
