20 years since the demolition of the two Francoist monuments in Portocristo

ManacorThis October marks 20 years since a historic event: the start of the demolition of Portocristo's first Francoist monument, during the term of Antoni Pastor (PP). Around noon on October 7, 2005, workers from the company Melchor Mascaró SA began erecting scaffolding to gradually dismantle the coats of arms and figures with some heritage value, before proceeding to demolish the stone structure of the monument located next to the Yacht Club. At 2:00 PM, the first hammer blows began to sound.

In this way, the PP-AIPC governing team confirmed the plenary agreement of the Manacor City Council of February 13, 2003, approved unanimously, which decided to demolish the last two Francoist monuments in Portocristo and the municipality of Manacor. The budget for the works was around 30,000 euros.

The workers from the Melchor Mascaró SA company, which was also building the city's second secondary school (the current IES Manacor) at the time, had to leave early due to bad weather. But the work had already begun. The day before, the architect and the municipal construction manager had also gone to the Plaza del Monumento, on the other side of town, to give the final guidelines and approval for the demolition of the large marble Christian cross located at the end of Avenida dels Pins.

The sandstone monolith was erected in 1937, in the midst of the Civil War, as a tribute to the 'Heroes of Manacorstate troops, who defeated the Republican troops of General Bayo after arriving in Portocristo. Traditional Francoist symbols such as the yoke and arrows were placed there, which, with the approval of the Consell de Mallorca, would be transferred, almost 70 years later, to the municipal museum of Manacor before being demolished.

Designed by the engineer Antonio Parietti, contemporary chronicles described that: "Its structure is austere and simple, topped by an imperial double-headed eagle, made of black marble, holding the coat of arms of Spain." Made of marble, it displayed the emblems of the Falange, Requeté, Renovación Española and Acción Popular, the two Republican parties that joined the coup d'état.

This monument, which also bore the motto 'To those who fell for God and for Spain, had already been the object, during the 80s and 90s, of many graffiti as a 'For sale' written in red that lasted for a number of years. The cross monument, for its part, suffered, in the early 90s, the impact of a small explosive, a device that was attributed to Terra Lliure.

Precisely, this monument, erected in 1958 at the junction of Avenida de los Pinos and the Son Servera road and in honor of the Infantry and Artillery troops, was, in the end, the first of the two to fall.

On August 24, 1937, the municipal corporation voted in favor of contributing to the construction of the monument in memory "of those who died in the comradeship against the invading reds" that was already being erected very quickly. That same day, the City Council declared September 4 a local holiday, replacing Corpus Christi.

From then on, the Falange organized annual commemorative events for the Republican retreat, which had turned into victory. In the morning, marching bands, bugles, and kettledrums led the way to solemn services in Portocristo and Manacor (where a monument clung to one of the walls of the parish church of Our Lady of Sorrows).

The first year, the plaques that gave names to the streets that the City Council dedicated to Franco (today Calle Mayor), General Mola and José Antonio Primo de Rivera (today Plaza de Gabriel Galmés) were also unveiled. In the afternoon, in Portocristo, exhibitions were held in the Drach caves and another on the Paseo del Moll, where the official inauguration of the Monument to the Spanish Falange and JONS, and then attended the performance of a Te Deum in the parish church.

There were patriotic speeches extolling the greatness of the Homeland and the figure of the Caudillo. The band played the Royal March and the Falange anthem, Facing the sun, and a luncheon was given to the poor of Manacor in the kitchens, "full of women and children, the great losers of the war," notes Manacor historian Antoni Tugores.

On the site of the monolith of the Nautical Club, an anchor was placed in memory of all those who died in the war, while in place of the monument with the large cross, a plaza without any further symbolism was built. On the wall of the Church of Los Dolores in Manacor, meanwhile, a small illuminated tree has now been planted as a symbol of peace.