Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

Miguel Miñana Barroso was born in Béjar in 1931. Miguel recounts being five years old when his father was detained with thirty-five other people. His father was the secretary of the Republican municipal council of Béjar in Salamanca. Miguel recalls that on January 1, 1937, the Falangists executed his father and the rest of the officials of the municipal council. He explains that his father did not have a political affiliation but sympathized with Socialist ideas. Miguel details the general strike of the textile workers in Béjar and the ensuing repression. He describes his experiences in school under the dictatorship. Miguel relates his militancy in the Unión General de Trabajadores (General Union of Workers) as a textile worker. He specifies the repercussions that Colonel Tejero's 1981 coup d'état had in Béjar. After the transition to democracy, Miguel was elected councilman of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Spanish Socialist Party) in Béjar