The Camp, recovering the memory of Franquism

At the end of September, the Consell finalised the declaration of Formentera as a Franquist concentration camp as a Cultural Interest (BIC) started in November 2001. Known as "El Campamento", situated next to the Estany d'es Peix, between 1939 and 1941 it was a place of imprisonment for 1,300 Republican political prisoners (on Formentera.net you will find a short history of Formentera which cites this tragic chapter of the island's history).

In terrible conditions (many died) people from Extremadura, Asturias, Basque Country and other corners of Spain passed through the camp. The hardly known history of the concentration camps during the Civil War and times of Franco is now the topic of a congress in the Museu d'Història de Catalunya, in Barcelona. In the Telenews of TV3 last Monday, coinciding with this congress, one of the survivors of the Formentera camp told his story.

To obtain more information about this question you can consult the interesting web by the Aragon historian, Javier Rodrigo, with an article in PDF format about bibliography about this topic.

Pere Marí
coordinador@formenteraweb.com

Related news:
Recover the memory about the Civil War (8/4/2002)

Photos ceded by Pedro Martín:
1. Concentration camp
2. Two survivors
3. Ceremony to uncover a plaque of "Sa Colònia Penitenciària" with a poem by Joan Colomines i Puig

Date of publication: 23/10/2002

Formentera >> News >> Archive 1999-2003 >> The Camp, recovering the memory of Franquism