The San Simón Islands, declared a Site of Democratic Memory

The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory has declared the Islands of San Simón and Santo Antón, the former Francoist penal colony located in the Vigo estuary, as a Site of Democratic Memory. The decision is detailed in the Resolution of August 6, 2026, published in the Official State Gazette number 205, of August 21, 2026, in section III, page 116009.

The case, initiated by Agreement of August 28, 2025, by the same Secretary of State, is processed under Law 20/2022, of October 19, on Democratic Memory, and Law 39/2015, of October 1, on Common Administrative Procedure. The resolution, signed by the Secretary of State Fernando Martínez López, recognizes the enclave as a memory space for the human rights violations committed during the Spanish War and the dictatorship.

A penal colony of more than 5,600 prisoners

The islands, opposite the parish of Cesantes, in the municipality of Redondela, were converted into a penal colony starting in October 1936 by decision of the Francoist general Martínez Anido, head of penitentiary institutions. The penal colony remained open until March 15, 1943.

• More than 5,600 prisoners passed through it; prisoner number 5,616 entered in late January 1943.
• There were never more than 2,000 prisoners at the same time.
• More than 517 deaths are recorded, in addition to those caused by “paseos” (forced walks) and executions.
• The inmate population consisted mostly of people over 60 years old.

Three phases of incarceration

Life in the penal colony took place in three stages. The first, between mid-October 1936 and the summer of 1937, primarily housed residents of the province of Pontevedra. The second, until late February 1939, recorded the highest influx of prisoners, arriving from Asturias after the fall of the Gijón front, and necessitated the enabling of barracks and a floating prison, the steamer “Upo Mendi”, brought from the port of Bilbao.

The third phase, the most dramatic, extended until the dismantling of the penal colony in early 1943. The visit of the Director General of Penitentiary Institutions, Miguel Cuervo, in late 1938 prompted the mass transfer of elderly prisoners who were saturating prisons across the country. In 1942, more than 1,500 people serving long sentences remained on the island.

Recognition and reparation

The declaration, in accordance with article 50.4 of Law 20/2022, corresponds to the Secretary of State upon the proposal of the competent Directorate General. The asset, owned by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge through the Directorate General for the Coast and the Sea, with an occupation concession to the Xunta de Galicia, will be registered in the Inventory of Sites of Democratic Memory.

The resolution provides for protection and dissemination measures: signage, plaques and interpretive panels, audiovisual and digital resources, and its integration into international memory circuits. It also recognizes the role of the “madrinas” (godmothers), the women of Cesantes who provided prisoners with food, clothing, and links to their families. An appeal for reversal may be filed against the resolution within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal before the Audiencia Nacional.

The declaration turns the San Simón Islands into a state benchmark for democratic memory, a step toward the recognition and moral reparation of the victims of Francoism and in the defense of the principles of justice, truth, and reparation.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 205, August 21, 2026, Sec. III, page 116009 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-18007).