The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory announces that there will also be a census of the people who suffered the consequences of the prison and the Patronato Para la Redención de Penas por el Trabajo.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Democratic Memory

The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, announced this Wednesday that he will promote an investigation into forced labour in Spain to draw up a census of victims and an inventory of buildings built with forced labour during the dictatorship: “It breaks our hearts when we hear the testimonies of daughters and granddaughters of those who suffered imprisonment for defending democracy and who were forced to work under inhumane conditions of misery and isolation”.

These statements were made by Torres during a visit to the ruins of the Chozas de la Sierra Penal Detachment, where during the dictatorship more than 2,000 Republican prisoners were confined out of the 6,000 who worked on the construction of the train line between Chamartín and Lozoya, of the Madrid-Burgos railroad.

Together with the mayoress of Soto del Real, Noelia Barrado, the delegate of the Government in the Community of Madrid, Francisco Martín, and representatives of the Cultural Association Chozas de la Sierra, the minister has toured this site of the Sierra de Madrid “which is discovered as one of the darkest and most forgotten episodes in the history of Spain. They were people who defended democracy and, therefore, suffered imprisonment and forced labour. Silence cannot be the answer and to restore their memory we have a Law of Democratic Memory that we will continue to develop and promote, and I hope that all democratic citizens are on the side of that law so that we have a country of harmony and word for future generations,” he said.

In the surroundings, you can see the remains of shacks built by the prisoners where, in little more than four square meters, women and children survived crowded, close to their husbands, fathers or sons and daughters, as Lucía Díaz, who was born in that detachment and who today has also participated in the visit.

The minister has assured that the work will continue “because they are justice” and explained that the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory is promoting studies to recover this part of the forgotten memory in Chozas de la Sierra, Bustarviejo and Las Jarillas de Colmenar Viejo. Specifically, grants have been awarded to the Asociación Los Barracones de Bustarviejo and the Asociación Cultural de Chozas de la Sierra for studies to recover the memory of these detachments.

70 kilometres of track with forced labour
In the construction of the Madrid-Burgos railway line, prisoners and their families worked and lived in nine detachments: Chozas de la Sierra, Bustarviejo, Garganta de los Montes or Lozoyuela, Valdemanco, Miraflores de la Sierra, Colmenar Viejo, Fuencarral, Chamartín and Las Rozas.

Between 1941 and 1955, 70 kilometres of railway infrastructure were built. The track was designed in 1928, but work was delayed during the Second Republic. Work was resumed after the Civil War. Although completed in 1955, the railroad was not inaugurated until 1968.