Travel the traces of the Republic, the Civil War and the repression in Dénia through the itinerary of democratic memory
The Dénia City Council has collaborated with the Alicante Civic Commission for the Recovery of Historical Memory in the elaboration of the Democratic Memory Itineraries guide: Dénia, which was presented yesterday afternoon at the Public Library with the intervention of the Councilor for Culture , Raül García de la Reina and the authors. The itinerary of democratic memory dedicated to Dénia is traced and written by Teresa Ballester, a pioneer historian in the study of the Republic and the Civil War in the Marina Alta, and Rosa Seser, Dénia's archivist, both well-versed in this period of our history. recent, who have written the content with care and historical rigor.
The Alicante Civic Commission for the Recovery of Historical Memory is the promoter of these itineraries, a project fully subsidized by the Ministry of the Presidency and Democratic Memory, which also includes the publication of guides in the cities of Orihuela and Monóvar, towns which were also the scene of important events during the years of the Civil War and the first Franco regime. The University of Alicante is in charge of coordinating the edition.
In the itinerary dedicated to Dénia, there is room for data related to the Republic, the Civil War and the period of subsequent repression, all structured in a 56-page guide, with photographs and documents from the Dénia Municipal Archive, published in Valencian and Spanish. , and that in not a long time, it will be possible to consult with a QR code that will facilitate access to all.
The route outlined has an estimated travel time of 2 hours, starting at the port and ending at the Plaza de Valgamedios. The authors propose 9 stopping points, in which they recommend stopping, introspecting and stopping to think about what sentíeven those deniers and deniers, using the guide to situate the facts in space to make them real. For example, going through the tunnel-refuge imagining the darkness, the crowd of people fleeing the bombing, the uncertainty and insecurity, the smell of fear...
Or stroll down Calle de la Vía aware that on the morning of October 18, 1938, German aviation dropped its bombs on the city killing 14 people, mostly soldiers who were making a protective trench, but also some civilians, like José Avargues, a 16-year-old Denier.
Passers-by will also be able to feel a shudder when they see what were spaces of repression at the end of the war: the basement of the Maristas school, which housed prisoners, or the Morand warehouses, on Calle de la Mar and Carlos Sentí, which originally kept raisins; during the Republic they were public schools; in the war, a refugee reception center and, when finished, a closure center for prisoners from the judicial districts of Dénia and Pego. Also the buildings on Avenida de Gandia with Avenida de València, where the Spain concentration camp was located, a facility where there were more than 1.500 people.
The nine stops through the urban center are complemented with visits to places located in the outskirts of the city such as the cemetery, the Montgó abyss, the defensive constructions, the villas confiscated during the war and even the Cueva de las Calaveras, in Benidoleig, where the manufacture of weapons was moved from Dénia because it is a safer place, out of the danger of the bombs that punished the city.
All with the aim of disseminating to the general public and, especially, to the school world, the events of this period that is so significant for our history. And also to discover the spaces that are still preserved and seek their preservation. And, thirdly, to highlight the history of the denier monumental heritage, indicating the origin of the buildings and the most relevant facts.