The residents of Marina del Prat Vermell no longer want to honor a Francoist minister

BarcelonaOver time, it has become one of those names that are part of the neighborhood's landscape without most people knowing why, but now the residents of Marina del Prat Vermell have spoken out. The Eduard Aunós neighborhood association—which represents the families living in the apartment blocks on Plaça Falset where the residents of the low-cost housing were relocated—has begun the process of changing the name and ceasing to pay tribute to this former Francoist minister. Born in Lleida, Eduard Aunós was a Catalan lawyer and politician who initially belonged to the Liga, where he became Francesc Cambó's secretary at the Ministry of Public Works. He later distanced himself from these principles, eventually becoming Minister of Labor, Commerce, and Industry during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship. In 1928, he laid the foundation stone for the affordable housing development in Marina del Prat Vermell, which would eventually bear his name, and which was intended to house many of the shantytown dwellers then living in the city. During the Second Republic, Aunós went into exile in Paris, where in 1937 he was appointed president of the Spanish Falange and the JONS in France. This alignment with fascism earned him, after Franco's victory, first the post of ambassador to Belgium and then to Argentina. Later, he was appointed Minister of Justice, a position he held between 1943 and 1945, and from which he promoted the General Cause (Causa General). He was one of the 35 high-ranking Francoist officials indicted by Judge Baltasar Garzón in his attempt to prosecute the regime's crimes against humanity.

"This neighborhood doesn't deserve to bear the name of Eduard Aunós," argues Manel Coronado, president of the residents' association, in a conversation with ARA, emphasizing that it has always been home to "working people." For this reason, the board of directors brought a name change, which had been under discussion for some time, to a vote at a general assembly. After considering three proposals, they ultimately chose to drop the reference to Aunós and become known as the Marina's Affordable Housing Residents' Association.

They have now had to amend their bylaws and are awaiting approval from the Department of Justice to finalize the name change. In the meantime, they officially remain the Eduard Aunós Neighborhood Association. However, while waiting to change the sign on their premises, which still refers to the former Francoist minister, the association is already fully embracing its new name. They have t-shirts with a drawing of one of the demolished low-cost housing units and are embroidering banners with the new name for this weekend's neighborhood association fair.

Pride in the face of stigma

The choice of the new name reflects a reclaiming of the neighborhood's past. This is corroborated by Sandra Navarro, Ginesa Pérez, Anna Montañés, and Esperanza, all born in the neighborhood and the heart and soul of the association. "Wherever I go, I always say I'm from Casas Baratas," they proudly emphasize. "When we received letters, the address said Cases Barates, nothing like Eduard Aunós," they add, and believe the new name should serve to pay tribute to people like them who were born in these houses.

It should also help reverse the "bad reputation" that has been historically and unfairly attributed to the neighborhood. "Before, taxis didn't want to come all the way here," they recall. In part, they blame the stigma on one of the area's most renowned sons: the writer Francesc Candel. "His book Where the city changes its number "He did a lot of damage. He didn't talk about the good things, which there were too," they claim.