Discover the thousand faces of Dalí
Descobreix les mil cares de Dalí
Descobreix les mil cares de Dalí
Aerial image of the bombing of the western area of Figueres, on January 23, 1938, by the Aviazione Legionaria delle Baleari. The impact on Passeig Nou can be seen. (USAM)
«I have ordered that all the bodies of the victims of the air strikes be buried in niches, and consequently if the families of the deceased cannot make the arrangements […] they will be provided by the City Council…”.
Figueres City Council, 24 January 1938 (ACAE)
Figueres was the second Catalan city where the most people lost their lives due to aerial bombing during the Civil War (1936-1939), with at least 291 registered victims. Some historians raise the number of victims, since many of the wounded ended up dying. The first city in terms of deaths was Barcelona (2,428).
Theses terrible figures in Figueres can only be understood if we consider that approximately fifty thousand people – fleeing civilians and retreating soldiers – crossed the city during the last days of January and early February 1939, while the German air force bombed it heavilly.
The war appeared on this promenade in Figueres in a sudden and dramatic way on Sunday, January 23, 1938, when a squadron of Italian trimotors from the Aviazione Legionaria delle Baleari bombed the city and caused a massacre among the citizens who had gone out to enjoy a sunny winter morning. That day, sixteen people died and twenty-seven more were injured.
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