Thousands visit the beautiful town of Ronda in Andalusia, in Spain, and are rightfully awestruck by its spectacular, rugged scenery, its breath taking cliffs and natural beauty. But what is the dark secret behind that magnificent bridge?
The following is taken from a discussion page on the Spanish Civil War, can anyone comrade with well found, backed up knowledge, verify or deny either or both of the two statements in the quotes. It is obvious that the bridge was the scene of hate and vengeance, but what are the facts, are they distorted by mythology, or are they lost in the mists of history.
The following is taken from a discussion page on the Spanish Civil War, can anyone comrade with well found, backed up knowledge, verify or deny either or both of the two statements in the quotes. It is obvious that the bridge was the scene of hate and vengeance, but what are the facts, are they distorted by mythology, or are they lost in the mists of history.
I would agree with you overall that the anarchist groups had more blood on their hands than anybody else on the Republican side. And of course there has been a lot of romantic mythology about revolutionary ideals of every kind. But to keep things in perspective, we need to remember that the Nationalists murdered over 600,000 people before and after the war. That's four times the amount killed by Republicans or their allies. Most left atrocities were spontaneous and fuelled by extreme anti-Church hatred amongst the poorest workers and peasants. Nationalist massacres were well organised and planned in an attempt to eradicate not only Socialists, Anarchists and Communists, but trade unionists, teachers, intellectuals and even those whose relatives were working for the elected Republican government. I suggest you visit Ronda in Andalusia where Franco's Moroccan troops threw 2000 people alive off the main bridge into a 260 ft. gorge.
War is hell for everybody and a civil war is worst of all.
I've seen that too and I don't disagree with it. But I've talked to people in Ronda about it. I speak enough Spanish to do that. They admit that this did happen in the first month of the war. But they also told me what happened when Franco's Moroccan Spanish Legion took over the town a few months later, lists were drawn up of all socialists, anarchists, and teachers etc. and all herded onto the bridge and thrown into the gorge. This became a regular occurrence over a year or more until their enemies were dead. People there have put the number killed at between 1500 and 3000 over a period of time. Some people may have exaggerated and maybe it's not widely reported as an atrocity as it was a more gradual policy of revenge and political cleansing. But that's what I was told and I have no reason to not believe them. What is clear, as I've already said, is that atrocities were committed by both sides. It was a civil war.
Somewhere in there lies the truth and happy welcoming Ronda of today, seems to have no mention of that dark past. Which tends to make me think that the Nationalist figures are reasonably accurate, and the state has no wishes to mark or broadcast this part of its history.
