Nazi symbol is spray-painted on bust of British merchant in Alicante: Archibald Dickinson saved Republican families at the end of Spain’s Civil War

AN ALICANTE bust of a Welsh hero who saved 2,638 people fleeing General Franco’s forces at the end of the Civil War in 1939, has been smeared with fascist graffiti.

Archibald Dickson, was captain of the SS Stanbrook and took on board the passengers at Alicante in March 1939.

The plinth recalling the historic rescue has been daubed in black paint and accompanied by a Nazi swastika.

It’s not the first occasion that Captain Dickson’s bust has been vandalised since it was unveiled in Alicante’s port area in 2014- the 75th anniversary of the rescue.

The plaque was torn off in 2017, just one day after Alicante council approved the twinning with Cardiff- Captain Dickson’s home city.

Two years later, fascist graffiti was painted underneath the bust.

Archibald Dickson defied orders and instead of picking up the scheduled cargo of tobacco, oranges, and saffron, he took the passengers on what ended up being a dangerous journey to the port of Oran in Algeria.

The SS Stanbrook dodged the German air force that bombed Alicante, and avoided the Francoist ship Canarias, which tried to sink it.