Ferrol is declared a Site of Democratic Memory for its republican role

The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory has declared “The city of Ferrol” a Site of Democratic Memory due to its republican trajectory and the systematic repression suffered following the military coup of 1936. The decision is contained in the Resolution of October 21, 2026, signed by the Secretary of State Fernando Martínez López, and is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 272, of November 2, 2026, with official reference BOE-A-2026-22985.

The declaration is adopted under article 50.4 of Law 20/2022, of October 19, on Democratic Memory, which assigns this competence to the Secretary of State upon the proposal of the competent Directorate General. The proceedings began with the Initiation Agreement of November 4, 2025, published in the BOE on November 7, 2025, and underwent a public information process and hearing procedure with the Ferrol City Council, as well as with the owners of the various landmarks. The resolution will take effect from the date of its publication, and the asset will be registered in the Inventory of Sites of Democratic Memory.

From the federalist insurrection to the triumph of the uprising

The text places the city’s republican vocation in the 19th century: between October 11 and 17, 1872, shipyard workers, federalist republicans, anarchists, and members of the Navy and the Guard occupied the Arsenal, the City Hall, and several ships, and proclaimed the Federal Republic in the parade ground. That insurrection weakened the government of Amadeo I and preceded the proclamation of the First Republic in 1873; this current reappeared in 1931, when republican councilors proclaimed the Republic in the town hall on April 14.

In July 1936, Ferrol was one of the State’s main naval and military enclaves, with the base and the arsenal concentrating an essential part of the republican fleet and a socioeconomic structure articulated around the shipyards. On July 22, the military uprising, which began on the 20th, triumphed after three days of resistance, with the occupation of strategic points and the start of a repression that combined arrests, summary courts-martial, and executions.

The castle of San Felipe became a military prison and execution center. Alongside it, the resolution cites the Escollera penitentiary, the naval prisons of Caranza and A Graña, the Baluarte Barracks, the Dolores Barracks, the judicial district prison, and the San Amaro Police Station.

Twenty-two registered enclaves and their owners

The declaration identifies 22 spaces with geographic coordinates and ownership, including:

• San Felipe Castle, Molins Canton, Jofre Theater, Workers’ Center for Culture and Beneficence, Monument of March 10, 1972, monolith to Pablo Iglesias Posse, and Mestre García Niebla avenue: owned by the Ferrol City Council.
• Caranza Naval Prison, Baluarte Barracks, Dolores Barracks, Military Arsenal, and Naval Archive (Captaincy Palace): Ministry of Defense.
• Judicial District Prison (current police station) and San Amaro Police Station: Ministry of the Interior.
• San Salvador de Serantes Cemetery and San Rosendo Church: Diocese of Mondoñedo-Ferrol.
• Canido Institute: Xunta de Galicia. Navantia Ferrol Factory: Navantia SA. Portal 27 of Rúa Terra and the birthplace of Concepción Arenal: private ownership.

The official account estimates three hundred victims in the mass graves of the Canido civil cemetery, preserved until 1965, on whose site the Canido Institute now stands. Around one hundred and fifty victims rest in the San Salvador de Serantes cemetery, and next to it stands the monolith to the republican mayor Alejandro Porto Leis, executed in 1938 along with neighbors who attempted to assist him.

Workers’ memory, tribute to the victims, and documentary heritage

The resolution connects the repression with the subsequent culture of resistance: the oil strike of 1946, the 1966 strike against the dismissal of workers from the BAZÁN Civil Works Section, and the events of March 1972, remembered in the Dez do Marzal Monument. At portal 27 of Rúa Terra took place the shooting and murder of the trade unionist Ramón Reboiras by the Political-Social Brigade.

The Canido Memorial Monument, located in Antón Varela park and inaugurated on February 24, 2024, lists the names of 904 people murdered by the dictatorship between 1936 and 1975 in Ferrolterra, Eume, and Ortegal. The Naval Archive, in the Captaincy Palace, and the Northwest Intermediate Military Archive safeguard funds and court-martial records relevant to historical research.

No additional specific measures and appeal within one month

In accordance with article 52.1 of Law 20/2022, no specific protection measures are established other than the general ones of durability, identification, explanation, and signaling. Dissemination and interpretation measures are planned: audiovisual and digital resources, plaques and panels, geolocation on the State Secretariat portal, and integration into international democratic memory circuits. The declaration does not alter the use or legal regime of the assets, and military facilities maintain their designation and use under the competencies of the Ministry of Defense.

An optional appeal for reversal may be filed against the resolution, which exhausts administrative remedies, within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court.

The declaration makes Ferrol a unique case due to the breadth of the protected area and the inclusion of facilities still in military use, which necessitates the coordination of memorial signage with the security and operational requirements of the Ministry of Defense. For residents, memorial associations, and Galician heritage, the agreement represents state recognition of the victims and a framework for marking and interpreting sites that, until now, depended on local initiative.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 272, of November 2, 2026, Sec. III, p. 146853 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-22985).