"The meager and absurdly idiotic meals, the hunger, a genuine and excruciating hunger that attacks the nerves; the lice, those little bugs that, if we could, we would eliminate in five minutes and against which we must sustain an exhausting and sterile fight. And the cold, that new enemy that has not been new, sharpens your nerves," wrote Pere Vives (Barcelona, ​​​​1910 - Mauthausen, 1941) to the poet Agustí Bartra on December 14, 1939. A little over a month later, on January 27, 1940, he sent him the last one. He would send his family one last one, from a prisoner-of-war camp, on June 22, 1941. After that, there was a long silence, because it was not until after the Second World War that Vives's mother learned that her son had died in October 1941 in Mauthausen, where he had been deported two months earlier. He never sent any letters from the concentration camp, and the only witness to how he died is the one left by his companion. Joaquín Amat-Piniella to KL Reich: had been given a shot of gasoline.

On the occasion of the official events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camps, all the news stories this Monday highlighted that, for the first time, a head of state of the Kingdom of Spain was finally visiting the Mauthausen camp. Where 7,000 Republicans perished under the perpetual infamy of Nazism. That the first time was in May 2025 almost explains everything, and almost nothing more needs to be added. And yet, the headline isn't accurate either. The newspaper archives don't exactly say the same thing. First and a half times, first time around, first and only once, if anything. Because it should be added that in February 1978, Juan Carlos I went, and then didn't go at the same time. On tiptoe. During an official visit to Austria, he preferred to send a minimal delegation to the camp, outside of any official agenda, while he visited the powerful steel industry in Linz and went to the Vienna Opera. Minister Marcelino Oreja also avoided any visit. The discreet, smaller delegation consisted of two people, a chief of protocol and a member of the Royal Household Secretariat, who left flowers that read:"The King of Spain in the Spaniards who died outside their homeland". How could I say nothing – they died away from home and that was it.

On the occasion of the official events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camps, all the news stories this Monday highlighted that, for the first time, a head of state of the Kingdom of Spain was finally visiting the Mauthausen camp. Where 7,000 Republicans perished under the perpetual infamy of Nazism. That the first time was in May 2025 almost explains everything, and almost nothing more needs to be added. And yet, the headline isn't accurate either. The newspaper archives don't exactly say the same thing. First and a half times, first time around, first and only once, if anything. Because it should be added that in February 1978, Juan Carlos I went, and then didn't go at the same time. On tiptoe. During an official visit to Austria, he preferred to send a minimal delegation to the camp, outside of any official agenda, while he visited the powerful steel industry in Linz and went to the Vienna Opera. Minister Marcelino Oreja also avoided any visit. The discreet, smaller delegation consisted of two people, a chief of protocol and a member of the Royal Household Secretariat, who left flowers that read:"The King of Spain in the Spaniards who died outside their homeland". How could I say nothing – they died away from home and that was it.