Eloise Horsfield
IT is madness that, in cash-strapped times, money is being spent removing a prominent Socialist from a street name in Velez Malaga.
No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, there is no denying Dolores Ibarruri was a key figure in Spain’s history.
Unlike many Nationalist figures whose names still adorn public buildings and streets all over Spain, Ibarruri’s mission was mostly for the common good of Spain.
She spent her days campaigning for workers’ rights, which hundreds of Spaniards benefit from today.
As a woman, her plight is also relevant to all those who wish for the end of machismo in Spain.
To remove her name from a road is a petty and tawdry decision which is going to offend far more people than it pleases.
Ernest Hemmingway, who mentions her in “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” didn’t like her much and Valentín González (“El Campesino”)liked her very much less. The latter relates their dramatic meetings when they were both in exile in USSR, he by then a prisoner in the gulags, and she a favoured and powerful party person. González at least would be glad to see her name taken off the street. According to him, torture was among her skills.
If torture was a negative in Spain, many many names would have to be removed from signs. Hipocrits!