The Girona square dedicated to a Falangist poet whose name the residents do not want to change

GironaNear Girona's train station, there's a square that welcomes travelers with cobblestones and centuries-old plane trees, home to hundreds of starlings. Most locals know it as "Bar Núria Square," a kiosk-licensed establishment frequented by early risers and those who stay out late. But what few Girona residents know is that the square's real name, Poeta Marquina, honors a Barcelonan who had no connection to Girona and who, after the war, became one of the leading figures in Falangist propaganda. He was also the author of the first official lyrics to the Spanish national anthem. Royal MarchCommissioned by Alfonso XIII. The older residents still remember that it was formerly called "Plaza del Carril" (Railway Square). The French train station was located in the section closest to the elevated tracks, until the viaduct was built in 1974. The current cobblestones bear witness: they exist because a large part of the square is still owned by Adif, the Spanish railway infrastructure manager. Now the square is in the news following the Girona City Council's failed project to change the name of Poeta Marquina, which the Francoist council imposed during the post-war period, over the popular name of "Plaza del Carril." The owners of the shops and apartments who participated in the referendum held just before the Feria de Abril (Fair) responded with a No The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of changing the street names. Turnout was very low, at 22.52%, but the result was clear: only 16 people voted in favor of the name change and 34 voted against it. In a press conference, the Councilor for Ecological Transition and Urban Planning, Sergi Font, considered it "a shame to let slip the opportunity to erase a Francoist name." The result has now been submitted to the Naming Commission, which must make a final decision, but Font had already emphasized that the result was decisive and should be taken into account.

But who was Poeta Marquina really? Archivist Joan Boadas, responsible for years for managing the city's street names, was one of the first to investigate the figure and uncover his Falangist legacy. "Until now, no city council had considered changing his name, but perhaps that's because knowledge about him has been growing," he explains to ARA. "I think the fact that he was called Poeta Marquina, and not Ernesto Marquina, which was his name, saved him from previous purges. The fact is, it's been very difficult for me to find information about his past."

Dalí's Little Bear Marquina

Most biographies described Ernesto Marquina Angulo as an "exiled" poet, and some attributed this to the Civil War. The fact is that the 1936 coup found him in Buenos Aires, where he was touring as a renowned playwright. But this did not prevent him from returning to Spain, and from 1938 onwards he began a firm association with the Falange, recalls Boadas, who found a letter addressed to him by one of the founders of the political party, Eugenio Montes Domínguez.One of the most beautiful emotions I retain from this year in America is that of that afternoon when, like the blue shirt, you read the oath of the Falange and I publicly glossed and sang of the event"," he recalled in the letter about when Marquina was in Buenos Aires.

The involvement went further and in 1939 he wrote the book Crown of sonnetsin which he glorified José Antonio Primo de Rivera as a martyr. He was also president of the SGAE's Purging Commission for Members and Publishers (1941), which was responsible for purging authors and publishers not aligned with the regime. He died in New York in 1946. Three years earlier, the Francoist city council of Girona decided to dedicate a square to him, despite his having no connection to the city. According to Boadas, someone surely intervened to make it happen.

Curiously, Marquina had begun his career as a playwright and poet writing in Catalan and married Mercedes Pitxot, who owned a house in Cadaqués. However, at the turn of the century, he began writing in Spanish and became a successful playwright. This is how the Dalís, along with Federico García Lorca, decided to name one of the family's stuffed animals Osito Marquina, given the resemblance they found between it and the poet. The bone is currently on display at the Toy Museum in Figueres.