Tragedy in Galicia: Honoring Two CNT Activists Murdered by Fascists 90 Years Ago

• August 2024 marks the 90th anniversary of the torture and murder of CNT activists Francisco Arca Valiñas and Secundino Bugallo Iglesias by the Falange in Galicia.
• Professor of Contemporary History Julio Prada Rodríguez notes that despite the absence of a formal front line in Galicia, extrajudicial killings were used as a central mechanism to establish Francoist power.
• A commemoration will be held on August 13 at the Casa do Pobo in Pedre (Cerdedo-Cotobade) to assert the right to truth and counter modern neo-Francoist revisionism.

The Victims and the Terror

• Francisco and Secundino were stonemasons and labor union leaders in Cerdedo who defended the democratically elected government against the military coup.
• On the night of August 12-13, 1936, they were abducted from a Guardia Civil barracks and murdered by Falangists at the roadside near Ponte do Barco.
• The local priest refused them burial in the parish cemetery, forcing their internment in a common grave.
• Their family members faced a long history of persecution: Secundino's son Gerardo was later murdered by the same Falangist who killed his father, while Francisco's son Rogelio fought for the Republic and endured internment in a concentration camp.

Gender-Based Repression in Rural Galicia

• Francoist repression extended systematically to the wives and daughters of male victims, serving as a tool to pressure families and discipline the rural population.
• Women faced constant surveillance, public humiliation (such as forced head shaving), social exclusion, and severe economic hardship.
• According to researchers, this gender-based violence was intended to enforce the regime's ideal of submissive, dependent women and destroy all community ties to those labeled as enemies of the regime.