Poyales del Hoyo
Encyclopedia
Poyales del Hoyo is a municipality located in the province of Ávila
, Castile and León
, Spain
. According to the 2006 census
(INE
), the municipality has a population of 598 inhabitants.
used the excuse of having to open an emblematic tomb of 10 victims of Franco
´s repression during the Spanish Civil War
to unceremoniously dump nine of them in the cementary´s unmarked grave, returning them to a state of anonimity they had recently been rescued from after laying in unmarked graves by the roadside for 75 years. The national outcry was instant and overwhelming, but overshadowed by the townsfolk´s reception of a group of protesters that arrived a few days later to protest the mayors actions. The town was waiting for them in force, headed by the assistant mayor and four councillors mixed with no shortage of local right-wing townsfolk that invoked the name of the long dead dictator Franco.
To add to the violence and confusion, the people emerging from church added to the wrath inflicted on the outnumbered visitors, including one lady in her 80's shouting "If Franco were to raise his head he would cut your throat, whore!" to a young female protestor. Pushing, spitting, and kicking of the visitors, women included, ensued, and the paramilitary Guardia Civil were kept busy for 90 minutes, finally having to call re-inforcements.
The whole episode was filmed by various news channels and shown across the globe, as well as transmitted live by mobile phone to national radio stations. The mayor had disappeared from the village a few days earlier quoting various reasons including a wedding, to get my medicine and "I was unwell", and only re-appeared the next day after the dust had died down, and the village had become known as Poyales del Odio (Poyales of Hate).
The episode has served to highlight the polarization between left and right wing in Spain, still rampant and dangerous over 70 years after the end of the civil war in 1939, and shown a surprising amount of support for the dictator General Franco, whom died in 1975 and was an ally of Hitler, with troops fighting alonside Nazi Germany during World War II
.
Ávila (province)
Ávila is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, and on the east by Segovia and Madrid. Ávila has a...
, Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. According to the 2006 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
(INE
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)
The National Institute of Statistics is the official organisation in Spain that collects statistics about demography, economy, and Spanish society. Every 10 years, this organisation conducts a national census. The last census took place in 2001....
), the municipality has a population of 598 inhabitants.
The ghosts of Poyales del Hoyo
The small sleepy town in the foothills of the Sierra de Gredos hit national headlines in August of 2011 when the newly appointed mayor, Antonio Cerro of the Partido PopularPartido Popular
Partido Popular may refer to:* People's Party * People's Party * The original name of the Popular Socialist Party...
used the excuse of having to open an emblematic tomb of 10 victims of Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
´s repression during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
to unceremoniously dump nine of them in the cementary´s unmarked grave, returning them to a state of anonimity they had recently been rescued from after laying in unmarked graves by the roadside for 75 years. The national outcry was instant and overwhelming, but overshadowed by the townsfolk´s reception of a group of protesters that arrived a few days later to protest the mayors actions. The town was waiting for them in force, headed by the assistant mayor and four councillors mixed with no shortage of local right-wing townsfolk that invoked the name of the long dead dictator Franco.
To add to the violence and confusion, the people emerging from church added to the wrath inflicted on the outnumbered visitors, including one lady in her 80's shouting "If Franco were to raise his head he would cut your throat, whore!" to a young female protestor. Pushing, spitting, and kicking of the visitors, women included, ensued, and the paramilitary Guardia Civil were kept busy for 90 minutes, finally having to call re-inforcements.
The whole episode was filmed by various news channels and shown across the globe, as well as transmitted live by mobile phone to national radio stations. The mayor had disappeared from the village a few days earlier quoting various reasons including a wedding, to get my medicine and "I was unwell", and only re-appeared the next day after the dust had died down, and the village had become known as Poyales del Odio (Poyales of Hate).
The episode has served to highlight the polarization between left and right wing in Spain, still rampant and dangerous over 70 years after the end of the civil war in 1939, and shown a surprising amount of support for the dictator General Franco, whom died in 1975 and was an ally of Hitler, with troops fighting alonside Nazi Germany during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.