Felipe VI is the king of all Spaniards, including Republicans. And this fact was shown yesterday in an unprecedented image: that of the Head of State leading a parade where a dozen tricolor flags of the Second Republic were waving. A snapshot that occurred during the first visit of a Monarch to the Mauthausen concentration camp. There, 7,251 Spaniards were imprisoned, who this Sunday received the homage from the King and Queen and from 250 Spaniards who traveled to participate in the event. The King made it clear in the lengthy text he wrote in the visitors' book.
"On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen (and Gusen) concentration and extermination camp, we participate with respect and emotion in the tribute and heartfelt remembrance of all the victims here murdered or who suffered violence and cruelty. In a special way, we remember the thousands of Spanish Republicans who fought against Nazism and for freedom," began the dedication of the Monarch, thus responding to the demand of those who were calling for recognition from the Crown.
The King and Queen honor the Spanish Republicans murdered in Mauthausen
A feeling of having their existence recognized that was felt by most of the attendees. If before the arrival of the King and Queen many described their presence as a "mistake" or a "provocation," the day ended with applause and gratitude: "This gesture calms the pain we have a little bit," said the granddaughter of José Díaz Cano to the Monarch on the day when Felipe VI starred in his own Transition. Because on this day, the Constitutional flag and that of the Second Republic coexisted with respect and reconciliation.
"May the memory of the crimes committed here and the remembrance of our compatriots remain intact to preserve their dignity. And to never forget the horror," Felipe VI requested in his dedication. "80 years later, we reaffirm our collective and personal commitment to democracy and the defense of human rights," he concluded.
Juan Manuel Calvo Gascón, president of the Amical de Mauthausen, who was already with the King and Queen in Auschwitz in 2020, stated that he found their participation in this event "positive." "We also hope that the Monarch will make an explicit recognition of the Spanish victims and of the involvement and complicity that existed between Francoist Spain and Hitler's Germany and Petain's France," he added.
The King and Queen in front of the plaque placed in 1978MAX SLOVENCIKEFE
From 9 in the morning, thousands of citizens from 30 nationalities wandered through the concentration camp. There were events organized by each country, and the organization estimated the number of attendees at 20,000. In one morning, they reached 10% of the total visits they received throughout 2024. In the case of Spain, the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, along with the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, and the prosecutor for Democratic Memory, Dolores Delgado, participated in one of them. It is noteworthy that a member of the government coincided in space with the King and Queen but did not act as a minister of the day, a responsibility that fell on the Secretary of Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez.
The King and Queen were welcomed at the former SS parking lot by the President of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen. On that esplanade, they already greeted the first descendant of a victim. It was Dolores Font, the daughter of the Republican Josep Font, who perished in Mauthausen. She thanked the Queen for her embrace and the presence of the King. King Felipe and Queen Letizia led the Spanish delegation, escorted by the tricolor flag to the cenotaph, a stone cube on which is written: "Mortuorum Sorte Discant Viventes" (Let the fate of the dead be a lesson to the living). There, they placed the first of the floral wreaths with which they remembered the Spaniards.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia in the floral tributeMAX SLOVENCIKEFE
The King and Queen took a tour of the camp guided by Pedro Carmona. They visited one of the barracks, the showers, and the crematorium. They headed to the 'Wall of Lamentations,' where since February 2, 1978, a plaque placed at the request of Juan Carlos I remembers the Spaniards who passed through here: "Spain to its fallen sons in Mauthausen." The King and Queen placed a second wreath of flowers there. And at the Spanish monument, they left the third and chatted with numerous citizens, from family members to students.
It was not planned, but King Felipe and Queen Letizia decided to descend the stairs of death, the 186 granite steps that led to the quarry where so many Republicans were tortured. They ended there after five and a half hours of a visit that is already historic, in which the King acknowledged the Republican victims.