The last of Catalonia's stolen historical documents returned to their rightful home

Barcelona (ACN).- 71 years after the Catalan documents were initially seized by the Francoist dictatorship, the final sections of archives were returned to Catalonia last Wednesday. The documents which were taken as part of Franco's policy of repression, after he came to power in the 1936-1939 Civil War, contained details of his political enemies in Catalonia. The Spanish minister of Culture, Angeles Gonzalez Sinde, confirmed the return of the final 365 boxes following the approval of their packaging and shipping.

The boxes contained approximately 715 files detailing the social politics of Barcelona at the time. In particular, they held a large amount of intelligence on the political opposition to fascism, including the Republican Left, the PSUC as well as union newspapers and political publications such as the ´Workers solidarity´ of the CNT and ´Land and Liberty´ of the IAF. Information on other groups such as the anti-fascist militia, the Republican Centre of Carr, the Association of Food industries and the International Red was also contained in the boxes.

15 boxes of social policy originating from Lleida in north-Catalonia made up a small section of the shipment. These contained documentation about the Catalan UGT, the so called ´Durruti Column' and the Central Committee of Antifascist Militias. González Sinde said that within the returned archives there is also the private correspondence of the celebrated Catalan lawyer, politician and economist Francesc Cambó i Batlle.

This final relocation is hopefully one of closing final chapters in what has been a conflicted tale between Salamanca and Catalonia. The archives, which were placed in Franco's headquarters in Salamanca in 1940 and later transferred to form part of the National Historical Archive when it opened in 1979, embodied the cultural and political history that had been taken from Catalonia. The resentment that this generated sustained the so called 'archive wars', which culminated in a protest in Barcelona of more than 4,500 people in 2002.

Although Catalonia was declared the rightful location of the archives in 2006, there remain several outstanding artefacts, such as Catalan badges and banners, in Salamanca. It is understood that negotiations for their return are already underway, with González Sinde announcing that a joint committee will meet to decide on the timeline for their return.