Asturias opens the process to declare El Mazucu a Site of Memory

The Principality of Asturias has initiated the procedure to declare the El Mazucu Monolith and its surroundings, located on the Tornería height in the council of Llanes, as a Site of Democratic Memory of Asturias. The decision was made by the Department of Territorial Planning, Urbanism, Housing and Citizen Rights, through the Resolution of September 11, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA) no. 181, of September 18, 2026, with reference 2026-07577. The agreement opens a public information period of twenty business days for the submission of allegations.

The origin of the file

The request originated from the Asturian Federation for Memory and the Republic, which on October 29, 2024, requested the declaration of El Mazucu and its surroundings as a Site of Democratic Memory. The General Directorate of Democratic Memory subsequently promoted the initiation of the proceedings, and the Technical Commission for Sites of Democratic Memory of Asturias, in its session on February 10, 2026, examined the proposal and the documentation of the file and agreed to open the procedure.

The protected enclave comprises the monolith and its immediate environment, delimited by the following coordinates:

• Monolith: latitude 43.387344, longitude -4.825610.
• Point 1: latitude 43.387144195854766, longitude -4.824845782476423.
• Point 2: latitude 43.38744955221685, longitude -4.824579561354371.
• Point 3: latitude 43.38740604097172, longitude -4.826061418684344.

A decisive battle of the Civil War

The monolith is dedicated to the fighters of the Republic and stands where the battle of El Mazucu took place, one of the most prominent episodes of the republican resistance in Asturias. The combat unfolded in September 1937 and lasted slightly more than two weeks: republican troops defended the mountain pass of the Sierra del Cuera against the offensive of the rebel army, which possessed numerical superiority and the support of German and Italian aviation.

Following the fall of Bilbao in June 1937 and the conquest of Santander in August, Asturias remained as the last republican territory of the Cantabrian coast. El Mazucu then became a strategic point for the advance of the rebel troops, whose conquest would allow the linking of forces advancing from León and Oviedo. On September 22, 1937, the position fell under Francoist control, a decisive step toward the conquest of Asturias and the disappearance of the republican northern front.

Allegations, suspension of licenses and final competence

The resolution orders publication in the BOPA and opens a period of twenty business days for interested parties to submit allegations, observations, or suggestions. Additionally, it provides individualized notification to the Llanes City Council, granting it a hearing period of 20 business days, and entrusts the instruction of the procedure to the General Directorate of Democratic Memory.

The text also provides for the preventive annotation of the asset in the Catalog of Places of Democratic Memory of Asturias and cautiously suspends municipal licenses for subdivision, construction, or demolition, as well as the effects of those already granted, until a final resolution is reached or the action is authorized by the competent department.

The applied legal framework is Article 28 of the Law of the Principality of Asturias 1/2019, of March 1, for the recovery of democratic memory, which defines a place of democratic memory as any space in which events relevant for their historical or symbolic significance, or for their impact on collective memory, have taken place. Article 30 of the same regulation governs the procedure: following the public information period, the hearing for interested parties and the council, the preventive annotation, and the mandatory consultation with the Council for Democratic Memory of the Principality of Asturias, the authority to resolve corresponds to the Government Council of the Principality of Asturias. Competencies in this matter are attributed to the department by Decree 22/2023, of July 31, and are exercised through the General Directorate of Democratic Memory according to Decree 75/2023, of August 18.

A symbol of republican resistance

The file proves that the enclave possesses historical, memorial, educational, social, and symbolic values, placing it among the most representative memorial spaces in Asturias. The monolith was one of the last points to resist attacks by the rebel side before the northern area fell under the control of Francoist troops, which gives it a symbolic weight linked to the struggle for democratic freedoms.

The declaration, if successful, will mean the formal protection of the site and will contribute to the preservation and dissemination of the memory of the victims, the strengthening of democratic values, and the promotion of the principles of truth, justice, reparation, and the guarantee of non-repetition. The process is now in the hands of the citizens and the administrations called upon to speak during the public information period.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias, no. 181 of September 18, 2026, section I (Other Provisions), pp. 1-2 (official reference: 2026-07577).