The war wounds that refuse to heal

July 18 marked the 80th anniversary of the coup organised by a group of military officials under the command of general Franco against the legitimate government of the Spanish Republic. It was the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which left hundreds of thousands dead, cities and villages destroyed, people missing and displaced and a lifetime of exile for many. It was also the start of an atrocious repression that helped perpetuate the Franco dictatorship for almost four decades (see our main feature on the subject on pages 24-33). The legacy of this conflict is still very present today. The material remains are visible in villages ruined by bombs, the remnants of military infrastructure and the sites of mass graves. Yet, there are also intangible remains, buried deep in our collective memory, which make the war, the repression and the dictatorship still relevant to many aspects of our lives today. We can now trace and recreate many of the settings and events of the war and its aftermath: the Battle of the Ebre, the Barcelona bombings, the routes into exile... all wounds that, despite the 80 years that have passed, have still not healed today.