INTRAMUROS
In 1977, Spain was immersed in a complex political process.
Those were the initial years of a regime change for a society ruled by a dictatorial system for 40 years, and which at the time was trying to join the western model of participatory democracy.
This process came to be called La Transición and its result was the so-called regime of '78, a parliamentary monarchy that still articulates Spanish political life.
At the height of this context of uncertainty and social effervescence, on January 24, 1977, an event of enormous symbolic significance took place: the cold-blooded murder of 5 union lawyers in the center of Madrid.
This action, carried out by international elements of the far-right, became known as the Atocha Massacre and caused a huge impact on Spanish society. Its immediate consequence was the opposite of what its authors intended: instead of causing a violent response from leftist organisations, it catalysed the legalisation of the communist party, which had been delayed since the death of the former dictator Francisco Franco.
A monument was erected at the site of the massacre, based on the famous painting by the artist Juan Genovés “El Abrazo”, one of the graphic icons of La Transición.
I belong to the generation of Spaniards born during that time of political unrest, a generation that in recent years has been vocal in questioning the continuist essence of the resulting regime and the debatable narrative of political rupture.
In 2011, I climbed the commemorative statue, dropped into it and collected the remains accumulated there over time.
The objects found inside were taken, classified and restored.
This collection of debris will only be shown publicly when the political regime of the Spanish State changes its current paradigm, something demanded by a growing percentage of Spanish society.
INTRAMUROS
In 1977, Spain was immersed in a complex political process.
Those were the initial years of a regime change for a society ruled by a dictatorial system for 40 years, and which at the time was trying to join the western model of participatory democracy.
This process came to be called La Transición and its result was the so-called regime of '78, a parliamentary monarchy that still articulates Spanish political life.
At the height of this context of uncertainty and social effervescence, on January 24, 1977, an event of enormous symbolic significance took place: the cold-blooded murder of 5 union lawyers in the center of Madrid.
This action, carried out by international elements of the far-right, became known as the Atocha Massacre and caused a huge impact on Spanish society. Its immediate consequence was the opposite of what its authors intended: instead of causing a violent response from leftist organisations, it catalysed the legalisation of the communist party, which had been delayed since the death of the former dictator Francisco Franco.
A monument was erected at the site of the massacre, based on the famous painting by the artist Juan Genovés “El Abrazo”, one of the graphic icons of La Transición.
I belong to the generation of Spaniards born during that time of political unrest, a generation that in recent years has been vocal in questioning the continuist essence of the resulting regime and the debatable narrative of political rupture.
In 2011, I climbed the commemorative statue, dropped into it and collected the remains accumulated there over time.
The objects found inside were taken, classified and restored.
This collection of debris will only be shown publicly when the political regime of the Spanish State changes its current paradigm, something demanded by a growing percentage of Spanish society.