January 2024, ARA revealed for the first time some staggering figures. During the Civil War (1936-1939), the cemetery of Sant Boi de Llobregat – a municipality that at the time barely exceeded 10,000 inhabitants – registered the death of more than 3,000 people admitted to the municipality's psychiatric hospital. This Saturday, finally, the memory of those men and women has been rescued from anonymity with an institutional tribute. A plaque from the Directorate General for Democratic Memory makes them visible and recalls their history. Their descendants not only have a place to bring flowers, but they also know something more about those who died a few meters from the cemetery. Just a week ago, after many demands, they received the medical records of some of their relatives.

"The case of Joana Sagrera and Guix seems like a tragic pamphlet, but it was a real case that made history, because it is the first documented case of illegal detention in the Sant Boi psychiatric hospital", says Enric Vicens, a psychiatrist and head of teaching and studies at the San Juan de Dios Health Park. Vicens, who presented the case at a round table held at the health center, explains that Joana Sagrera (1817-1874) was the daughter of an important and wealthy Valencian family who married. The youngest of the two died when he was seven or eight years old, and they were the great-great-grandparents of the former mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá. Joana inherited the estate, at the request of her mother, Anna M. Guix. We don't know if they were in love when they married or what happened at home, but around 1860 Juana wanted to separate, which was not easy in the mid-19th century. In her case, the fact that she owned part of the estate made things even more complicated. "Their living conditions had worsened considerably because Nolla placed an English director, Mr. Duvies, in charge of the factory, who went to live with his wife in the home of the Valencian couple. Everything became quite tense when the factory director's wife became Miquel Nolla's lover," explains Vicens.