The Statue of Lázaro Cárdenas is an instance of public art in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain. Erected at the , it pays homage to Mexican President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

, noted for welcoming into

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

thousands of

Spanish Republican The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissolv ...

exiles fleeing the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and the ensuing

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

History and description

A homage to Lázaro Cárdenas, the

Mexican President The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

who welcomed about 30,000

exiles fleeing the

and the ensuing

, was one of the first decisions taken by the democratic municipal corporation formed after the 1979 Madrid municipal election, passed in the first meeting session of the plenary of the

Ayuntamiento ''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain: * (). * (). * (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself. is mai ...

. Costs of the structure were funded by the Ayuntamiento, while the statue was financed via popular subscription among the Spanish Republican community in Mexico. Initially intending to erect a bust, they reportedly collected so much money a full-body statue was commissioned. The design of the project was awarded to Mexican sculptor Julián Martínez, himself a Spanish exile who arrived to Mexico when he was young. Standing 3.5 metre high, the full-body statue turned up to be too big for its original tentative location at the Plaza del Presidente Cárdenas (dedicated in 1982), so a new location at the was eventually decided by the Ayuntamiento. Cast in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

in Mexico, the costs for the transportation of the monument to Madrid were also funded by the Spanish Republican community in Mexico. Joaquín Roldán and Santiago Cubero had a role in the erection of the monument as architects. The monument was unveiled on 16 November 1983 during a ceremony attended by

Enrique Tierno Galván Enrique Tierno Galván (Madrid, 8 February 1918 – Madrid, 19 January 1986) was a Spanish politician, sociologist, lawyer and essayist, best known for being the Mayor of Madrid from 1979 to 1986, at the beginning of the new period of Spanish d ...

(Mayor of Madrid), (Head of Mexico City), Amalia Solórzano (widow of Cárdenas),

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (; born 1 May 1934) is a Mexicans, Mexican politician and civil engineer. A prominent Social democracy, social-democrat and the son of 51st president of Mexico Lázaro Cárdenas, he is a former List of heads of ...

(son of Cárdenas), Enrique Barón, Joaquín Leguina and José Federico de Carvajal, among others. The two initial plaques added to the monument read: ("The people of Madrid, to Lázaro Cárdenas, President of Mexico (from 1934 to 1940)" and ("the Spanish Republican exile with deep gratitude and recognition to Lázaro Cárdenas, President of Mexico"). Following an initiative of the Association of Descendants of the Spanish Exile, a new plaque reading ("father of the Spaniards without homeland and without rights, persecuted by tyranny and disinherited by hate"), a quote dedicated to Cárdenas by

Álvaro de Albornoz Álvaro de Albornoz y Liminiana (June 13, 1879, Asturias – October 22, 1954, Mexico) was a Spanish lawyer, writer, and one of the founders of the Second Republic of Spain.Fernández, Tomás y Tamaro, Elena: "Biografia de Álvaro de Albornoz Li ...

upon the latter's arrival to Mexico as exile, was unveiled in October 2005.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{Authority control Bronze sculptures in Spain Outdoor sculptures in Madrid Sculptures of men in Spain Statues of presidents of Mexico Buildings and structures in Fuencarral-El Pardo District, Madrid Monuments and memorials in Madrid

History and description

See also

References