75 Years Later, the Spanish Civil War still Haunts Spain
The disputed frescos, courtesy of MNAC
As reporters draw parallels between the Spanish Civil War and the Syrian Civil War, two recent events in Spain serve as a reminder that the war has yet to be fully resolved. A Russian tourist recently found an unexploded howitzer shell off the coast of Mallorca. Spanish authorities safely detonated it.
The disposal of the bomb landed on the 77th anniversary of the Republican landings in Mallorca. On August 16th 1936 an expeditionary force led by Officer Alberto Bayo landed on the beach at Sa Coma and set up headquarters in a nearby farm house. Although the loyalist forces were quickly repelled and Boya and his men retreated back to the Spanish main land just under 3 weeks later they left behind weapons and munitions, like the one found at the weekend.
Elsewhere, a new Spanish ‘civil war’ rages on in the courtroom, as Aragon and Catalonia argue over who owns a number of Romanesque frescos dating from the early 13th century. The Santa María la Real de Sijena monastery saved these frescos from destruction during the Spanish Civil War, but now the government of Aragon has formally asked Catalonia to return the frescos.
