At present there are different ways of understanding historical memory and its functions, the Barakaldo City Council understands it, on the one hand, as an exercise in confrontation with our past that aims to know, claim and denounce injustices buried by oblivion that must be judged and repaired; and on the other hand, as a means of learning and socially building a present and a future that avoids and guarantees the non-repetition of the mistakes that led to those injustices.
The objectives of the consistory aimed at the recovery of historical memory are:
- 1. Recover and keep alive the memory of people who suffered rights violations in Barakaldo during the Civil War and the Franco Dictatorship.
- 2. Promote knowledge about the violence and repression suffered in Barakaldo during the Civil War and the Franco Dictatorship.
- 3. Promote a democratic awareness and work pedagogically and socially guarantees of non-repetition among the citizenship of the municipality.
The main history of initiatives in the field of the recovery of the historical memory carried out by the town hall of Barakaldo have been:
2006
March 31. Approval by the Board of Spokespersons of a motion declaring 2006 Year of Historical Memory and expressing its willingness to promote commemorative and informative events on the 75th anniversary of the Second Republic.
2009
May 28. Full approval of the motion that agreed to carry out a census of Franco symbols existing in the locality and the elimination of the municipality references to the Franco dictatorship and its promoters.
June 25. Full approval of the motion to facilitate the tasks of locating and identifying the persons disappeared from the civil war and the Dictatorship.
2012
June 18-24. Realization by the Commission for the Recovery of Historical Memory, with the support of the City Council of Barakaldo, of acts in remembrance and homage of the victims of the Civil War and the Franco dictatorship on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the seizure of the city by Franco’s troops.
2013
June 27. Full approval of the motion submitted by the Basque Platform for the Anti-Crimes of Francoism and its support and adherence to it.
2015
January 29. Full approval of the motion for the removal of Franco symbols present in the municipality within one year, as well as to demand and require action in this line from the central government and the Basque Government.
2016
July 28. Full approval of the motion for the identification and signage of places related to civil war in the municipality. October 27.
Full approval of the motion to support the judicial process known as Querella Argentina.
2017
June 13. Performing an act of tribute to the victims of the Civil War on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the deadliest bombing of the war. June.
Working process between the board of spokespersons and citizens for the construction of local policies and initiatives for the recovery of historical memory.
2018
June 21. Construction of a collaborative mural on historical memory located in the Herriko Plaza.
2019
June 12. Research on places of memory related to the Civil War and the post-war period in Barakaldo.
