[Leica] Nathan's PAD 23/2/2023: explaining the past (and a proper Leica film photo too)

[Nathan Wajsman]

Thanks, Peter. There has been some rain that morning but in general the winter has been dry. In contrast to Northern Europe, it has been unseasonably cold here. This morning when I was driving to work, it was only 9C (48F in American money) which is extreme for Alicante in March (OK, the month just started, but still). However, there is plenty of tomatoes of all types, and the prices are no higher than normal, so the supply problems in the UK are not weather related. I think somebody screwed up and is using the cool weather down here as an excuse.

As for the plaque. It is a long story. The restoration of democracy in Spain following Franco’s death in 1975 was peaceful but perhaps not universally welcomed. The right wing and the Catholic Church were tightly connected, and a not insignificant sector of the population would have liked the Fascist government to have continued with a new head. This did not happen, fortunately, but in contrast to the democratisation process in places like South Africa or Poland, there was no reckoning with the perpetrators of human rights violations of the previous regime—no truth and reconciliation commission, no judicial proceedings, just a tacit agreement to sweep things under the rug and move on. This was known as the “Pacto del Olvido” (“the pact to forget”) and until recent years it was rarely questioned. Only in the past decade has there been serious movement towards a more normal treatment of the past, as evidenced by the removal of Franco’s body from the hideous mausoleum he had built outside Madrid (he is now buried in a normal family plot) and installation of memorials like our plaque in Alicante. Still, there are still street names and symbols harking back to the dictatorship. 

Like I said, this is all complicated, intermingled with issues of Catalan nationalism, the role of the church, etc. Lluis, who has actually lived in Spain during the dictatorship and through the transition and subsequent years, may have a much richer perspective than I.

Cheers,
Nathan


Nathan Wajsman
photo at frozenlight.eu

http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.frozenlight.eu

Слава Україні! Героям слава!






> On 1 Mar 2023, at 10:57, Peter Dzwig <pdzwig at summaventures.com> wrote:
> 
> Wow, you have rain in Alicante? But I guess that's why we can't get our tomatoes from Spain and Morocco at the moment.
> 
> Very much like the picture I wonder what she makes of it, or will do in the future. Great shot.
> 
> I guess Mussolini's planes were flying out of the Balearics. Would love to hear why it took so long to put in place.
> 
> Peter
> 
> On 27/02/2023 11:57, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
>> A proper Leica image this time—shot on film with the Leica M2 and developed by me. The background: on 25 May 1938, Alicante was the victim of one of the many war crimes during the Spanish Civil War. The city was besieged, and starvation was widespread. On that day, the attackers knew that there would be a delivery of fish to the Central Market, and so Mussolini’s air force chose to bomb the market—the objective was clearly to sow terror among the population, there were no military targets anywhere nearby. More than 300 people were killed.
>> Today the square is called Plaza del 25 de Mayo, and in 2013 a memorial plaque was installed on the pavement (the fact that it took so long after re-establishment of democracy in 1978 is another story). Most people just walk by, but I noticed a father explaining the meaning of the memorial to his young daughter:
>> https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-7FBJMQn/A
>> Cheers,
>> Nathan
>> Nathan Wajsman
>> Alicante, Spain
>> http://www.frozenlight.eu <http://www.frozenlight.eu/>
>> http:// <http://www.greatpix.eu/>www.greatpix.eu
>> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws <http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws>Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ <http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/>
>> Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator <http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator>
>> Слава Україні! Героям слава!
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> -- 
> 
> Dr. Peter Dzwig
> 
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