Massacre of 3 March 1976 in Vitoria
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On March 3, 1976, the Spanish Armed Police Corps used tear gas to force the workers on strike out of the parish Church of San Francisco de Asís in the Basque capital of
Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...
. As the workers left the church, they were shot by the police, resulting in 5 dead and 150 injured with gunshot wounds. The same police later described the events as a massacre. The event inspired
Lluís Llach Lluís Llach i Grande (; born 7 May 1948) is a Catalan singer-songwriter, novelist and politician from Spain. He is one of the main representatives of the ''nova cançó'' genre and an outspoken advocate of the right to self-determination of ...
to write the celebrated song ''Campanades a morts''. Lluís DANÈS
''Llach, la revolta permanent''
Mediapro / Bainet Zinema, 2006.


Background

In January 1976, some six thousand workers initiated a strike against the decree to limit wage increases and in defence of better working conditions. Two months later, they called for the third time for a
general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
massively followed on 3 March. This same day the armed police entered the Church of San Francisco in Vitoria-Gasteiz where the workers were gathering and asked them to leave despite the opposition of the priest and the
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting o ...
signed by the Catholic Church and the Spanish Government stating that the police were not to enter any churches by force. Just a few seconds later, the police used tear gas inside the church, which was crowded. As suffocating workers tried to escape, they were beaten up and shot by the Spanish police. Pedro María Martínez Ocio, 27, Francisco Aznar Clemente, 17, Romualdo Barroso Chaparro, 19, and José Castillo, 32, were shot dead. Bienvenido Pereda died later on. Hundreds more were injured, many with gunshot wounds. That same week Manuel Fraga Iribarne then Home Minister and founder of the Spanish Conservative Party, Rodolfo Martín Villa, Minister of Unions and General Campano, director of the
Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Histori ...
, visited some of the injured workers to minimize criticism. The leader of the German social-democrats, the
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
, cancelled a meeting with Fraga that same week.


Consequences

Those incidents fueled the action of the democratic opposition and their coordination. The Democratic Junta of Spain and the Platform of Convergence merged into the Democratic Coordination or Platajunta on 26 of March. This new board exerted more political pressure on the government, demanding amnesty, freedom for unions, democracy and denouncing cosmetic reforms. Manuel Fraga Iribarne and Martín Villa are considered responsible for the massacre. The events also showed once again that the Catholic Church was no longer supporting the dictatorship and in some aspects was much closer to workers' demands.


Reparation and recognition of the victims

After the investiture of
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...
to the presidency of the Spanish government, the group of the
Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...
in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
issued a question enquiring about the events and calling for an investigation. In 2006, the law of Historical Memory considered the victims to be victims of the dictatorship, even though this happened five months after
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
's death in November 1975. However, by February 2008, no political responsibilities had been determined, with the Spanish Conservative Party (PP) opposing a public appearance of Manuel Fraga and Rodolfo Martin Villa, Ministers at the time of the event, to face questioning on the matter. On March 3, 2006,
Lluís Llach Lluís Llach i Grande (; born 7 May 1948) is a Catalan singer-songwriter, novelist and politician from Spain. He is one of the main representatives of the ''nova cançó'' genre and an outspoken advocate of the right to self-determination of ...
sang Campanades a Mort, a song that gave name to a disc inspired by the massacre of 3 March in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the very same city. In February 2016 the mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz tried to honour the
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
singer-songwriter declaring him adopted son of the Basque capital but the local council members of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and the Conservatives made it impossible.


The police recording

The police recording showing how the police were very much aware of what was going on and in fact planned the shooting of workers shocked many in Spain and elsewhere.


References

{{coord, 42.8558, N, 2.6689, W, source:wikidata, display=title Massacres in Spain Spanish transition to democracy Vitoria-Gasteiz March 1976 events in Europe 1976 in Spain Political repression in Spain Riots and civil disorder in Spain