La Vida Alcalaína

Many years ago I read a book called "The Anarchists of Casas Viejas" by an American anthropologist called Jerome Mintz.  Casas Viejas was the old name for Benalup-Casas Viejas, about 15 km from Alcalá. Back in 1933 it was the scene of an event which shook the nation to the core and helped bring down the socialist government of the Second Republic. One of the key figures in that event was a young woman who went by the name "Libertaria", which piqued my romantic imagination. I vowed to find out more about her and one day write her story.  It's taken a while, but the book is now out and is available  on Amazon  worldwide, in paperback or Kindle format, at giveaway prices. The introduction to the book is reproduced below. Subsequent chapters cover the evolution of anarcho-syndicalism (also known as libertarian communism) in the area and why it was so attractive to men who could barely get enough work to feed their families; a detailed look at the events of January 1...

I'm delighted to announce that the book I've been working on for the past year,  Winds of Change: Alcalá de los Gazules in the 20th Century,  is now available worldwide on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format, price £5 and £8.50 respectively (if you are in the UK, or the equivalent in other currencies elsewhere).  Any profits will go to the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) in Spain to help run food banks for people who don't have enough to eat.  As with all the historical material on this blog, I have not done original research myself but instead translated the works of real historians who have slogged through dusty archives to bring the past to life.  Until now none of their work has been available in English; my aim in publishing this book is to make the fascinating history of the pueblo during that turbulent century available to a wider audience.   Click here  to read the full description,  download a sample, or buy a copy.  Thanks!...

In the brutal suppression of civilians that followed the Nationalist uprising in July 1936, women were not spared.  It was enough simply to be related to a Republican sympathiser.  This is the story of an incredibly courageous Alcalá woman who saw her family members gunned down by firing squad and who only survived by the skin of her teeth.  It was written by her granddaughter, Juana María Malia Vera, and published in Apuntes Históricos de Alcalá de los Gazules 2006 .  The original is also available on the blog  Historia de Alcalá de los Gazules . My grandmother Francisca was born in Alcalá in August 1910 to Francisca Torres Amador and Antonio Pizarro Álvarez.  She had three brothers, José, Antonio and Francisco, and one sister, Maria.  Her mother died when Francisca was only nine years old, leaving her in charge of the household and her four siblings.  The youngest, Maria, was only two.  At that point she started to wear blac...

In the early 20th century in Alcalá de los Gazules, Antonio and María had five sons and a daughter.  Then in July 1936 the country was torn apart by a nationalist uprising and a civil war, which inflicted tragedy on this family as on countless others.  One son died at the Front in a bomb blast.  One escaped to France and never returned.  One was executed by firing squad.  One had to hide out in the hills for years. One, Miguel, spent most of his adult life in prison - this is his story.  Of the daughter, nothing is known except her name, Catalina. L-R: Miguel, Cristóbal, Francisco "Miguelillo", born in 1915, was the youngest and most daring of the brothers.  He used to say he had so many narrow escapes on and off the battlefield he must have had his own guardian angel. The nickname Cartucho (rifle cartridge) was inherited from his grandfather, who as a boy had liked to hide and explode cartridges to frighten the girls.  Miguel adopt...

This is a translation of the results of detailed research into Alcalá's municipal archives by historian Ismael Almagro Montes de Oca and his colleagues, on events which took place here during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39.  The original articles, in Spanish, can be found on the blog Historia de Alcalá de los Gazules: La Historia Silenciada I La Historia Silenciada II Summary:   Although there were no battle-fronts near Alcalá during the Civil War, the overnight regime change in the government of the town immiediately after Franco's military coup affected everyone's lives.  The elected representatives and civil servants who supported the Republic were quickly replaced with Falangist sympathisers, and many were imprisoned or executed, along with other prominent Republicans. Streets were renamed after Francoist generals. Rights and freedoms were curtailed and private property was confiscated, often to the financial benefit of the new regime.  All forms of protest,...

Alcalá is mourning the death on 3 July of historian Carlos Perales, who dedicated his life’s work to to uncovering the truth about events in and around Alcalá during the Civil War and under the Franco dictatorship, long concealed under Spain's Pacto de Olvido ( Pact of Forgetting ). Carlos died on 3 July, shortly after falling victim to an aggressive cancer.  He was the brother of one of the leaders of the re-emergence of socialism in the province after Franco’s death, the politician Alfonso Perales (who also died prematurely of cancer, in 2006), and was President of the foundation formed in his brother’s honour. He himself was a life-long socialist, joining the PSOE in 1976 as soon as it became legal again after Franco's death. He leaves a wife, two children and numerous other relatives, many of whom live and work in the town. Carlos was born in Alcalá in 1958, and studied Modern & Contemporary History at the University of Cádiz.  Until 1999 he taught at the Val...

Pedro Valle Barrera was a child victim of the vicious repression carried out by Franco's forces during and after the Spanish Civil War, known as the White Terror . His uncle was executed, his father was imprisoned and his mother had her head shaved, for being on the Republican side. By some miracle he escaped the organised massacres of refugees at La Sauceda and on the 'Road of Death' from Málaga to Alméria.  In 2009 Pedro recounted his childhood memories to J. Carlos Perales Pizarro, who transcribed and published them. This is an abridged translation of Pedro's story. The full version in Spanish can be found on the Historical Memory website Todos los Nombres . Pedro was born in 1928 to Francisca Barrera and Juan Manuel Valle Recio, in C/ Sánchez Flores, Alcalá de los Gazules. His grandfather Pedro Valle Marchante worked with cattle; he was well-educated and gave lessons to the agricultural workers who lived around the Finca del Torero. Valle Marchante was rela...