Soledad Real. A women in the anti-Francoist struggle

On June 17th, the Pere Ardiaca Foundation organised jointly with the Pròleg bookshop  an event to render homage to Soledad Real, with the title “Companya Soledad, una dona a la lluita antifranquista (”Comrade Soledad, a women in the anti-Francoist struggle”).
A book in Spanish  “Las Ventanas de Soledad Real ( The windows of Soledad Real)”  was presented together with a documentary and an exhibition.  A sample of the documentary can be seen in the Fundació Pere Ardiaca website and the book can be bought in Pròleg, the feminist bookshop in  Barcelona’s, Dagueria street. Note the bookshop will be moving shortly to new premises for budgetary reasons.

All these works introduce Soledad Real’s thoughts and feelings in the different sides of her struggle: as a republican, as a democrat, as a communist and as a feminist.
Among the social and subjective difficulties to interpret and to elaborate what the Spanish Civil war meant, one must mention women and their  leading role that has been often treated in a secondary level. Mental health problems due to the trauma and how they were passed through generations was never recognised although suffering still exists. They deserve (we deserve) that our public health system cares with specific services for all demands still arising. Other countries going through similar situations, such as Chile and Argentina did so. We, in e-Criterium believe in an integral health care system without discrimination. In that particular case it is also a reparation act.
There were other women in the event that until now keep their social, daily, quiet, generous activism, always with an attitude full of solidarity and enthusiasm. Some are well known such as Trini, others less, such as Maria, Rosario, or Lola, who stood up in the end of the event with her bright eyes, her expression full of emotion and pain, who knows with how many remembrances of her 90 years of life walking through the exhibition in such an intimate fashion that I did not dare to follow her. I had the privilege of meeting all of them during my research work on psychic trauma and civil war some time ago. A summary (in Spanih) of the first part can be found in the Democratic Memorial Memorial Democràtic (Generalitat/Government de Catalunya website).

Papers were presented by Carmen Plazuelo, coordinator of History, Fundació Pere Ardiaca ; Àngels Grases, Director, Pròleg Bookshop; Fernando Hernández Holgado ,Historian, Associació per a la Cultura i la Memòria de Catalunya ACMe (Association for the Culture and Memory of Catalonia); Llum Ventura, facilitator of Dones del 36 (“Women of 36 –the year the Spanish Civil War bagan); Núria Salamé, President, Associació Catalana del Poble Saharaui  ACAPS (Catalan Association of Saharian People) and niece of Soledad Real

Olga Fernandez Quiroga.