Controversy in La Linea over planned tribute to Italian divers who died attacking Gib in WWII

A political row has erupted in La Linea over the city council’s backing for an event on Sunday to commemorate three Italian divers killed during World War II during an underwater attack on Allied ships docked in Gibraltar.

The event was organised by the council at the request of relatives of the three men but has drawn flak from the Socialist party and Podemos in La Linea.

“This event, far from honouring the memory of those who fought for democracy and liberty, flagrantly contradicts the principles of [Spain’s] Law for Historical Memory and Democracy,” Podemos said in a statement.

“Among those honoured is Licio Visintini, an Italian military officer who not only fought on the fascist side during World War II as an ally of Nazi Germany but also actively participated in the Spanish Civil War in support of Franco's forces.”

“These historical facts not only serve as a reminder of a dark era of oppression, violence, and persecution but also make this tribute a profoundly unacceptable act from an ethical, political, and legal standpoint.”

The PSOE branch in La Linea said it had raised its objections with mayor Juan Franco as soon as it learned of the tribute through the media.

“We find it inconceivable and indefensible for a democratic public institution to organise and support an event honouring three Italian soldiers who were part of a fascist regime and even participated earlier with the Italian army in the Spanish Civil War on the Francoist side,” the Socialists said.

“We urge the mayor to reconsider and withdraw institutional support for this event, as it contradicts the democratic values that should guide our society.”

“In a context where Spain is actively working to provide redress for the victims of fascism, we cannot allow figures representing repression and authoritarianism to be whitewashed.”

The Italian divers – Licio Visintini, Giovanni Magro and Salvatore Leone – were members of the Italian Navy’s Decima Flottiglia MAS, which launched numerous attacks on British shipping in Gibraltar using underwater chariots commonly referred to as ‘human torpedoes’ from their base in a converted tanker in Algeciras, the Olterra.

On the night of December 8, 1942, six divers were detected as they approached warships anchored on the British side of the Bay of Gibraltar.

Three were killed, two were captured and only one managed to escape.

The tribute on Sunday, the 82nd anniversary of that night, was organised by La Linea city council after it was approached by Visintini’s descendants seeking a location to honour him.

It will take place at a monument on the Avenida Príncipe de Asturias, near the marina, sculpted by La Linea artist Nacho Falgueras in 1993 to remember divers lost at sea.

The inscription on the monument reads: "To the submariners who, like you, gave their lives at sea."

Alfonso Escuadra, a historian from La Línea and an expert on the Decima Flottiglia MAS who assisted municipal authorities in coordinating the event, told Europa Sur that while Magro and Leone have memorials in Italy, Visintini, the highest-ranking officer among the three, did not have a dedicated commemorative site.

“Giovanni Magro has a plaque in the cemetery of Rovigo, his hometown, and Salvatore Leone, who disappeared that night and whose remains were never found, has a plaza named after him in Taormina,” he told the Campo newspaper.

“But Licio Visintini was born in Parenzo, a city that became part of Yugoslavia after the war," Escuadra explains.”

“Visintini’s family sought a symbolic location to honour him and chose La Línea as the place where the three Italians
spent their final days together.”

The tribute will be held on Sunday at 10:30am, coinciding with the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the patron saint of La Línea.

The city council, led by mayor Juan Franco, will host a delegation from the three families, along with Italian dignitaries such as Senator Roberto Menia, Defense Attaché Massimiliano Siragusa from the Italian Embassy in Madrid, officers from the Italian Navy, naval veterans, and municipal representatives from Rovigo and Taormina, among others.

CALL FOR CANCELLATION

The planned tribute drew a reaction too in Gibraltar, where the Community/Retired Branch of Unite the Union said it “deplored” the council’s decision, expressing “great sadness and outrage” at news of the event.

“It is incomprehensible that the mayor of La Linea in a democratic Spain would offend the people who died as a consequence of the role of Italian fascists in Spain, Gibraltar or Europe,” the Branch said in a statement.

“Italian fascist war efforts did not just subscribe to attacking British and Allied forces; the Italian air force also carried out the bombing of Gibraltar and on one such occasion in October 1942, the fascists dropped by mistake a bomb in La Linea, that killed innocent civilians.”

“One of the most horrific acts of crimes against humanity was committed by the Italian Air Force against the civilian population of Malaga as they were escaping the advance of fascist troops - Spanish, Italian and German troops - out of the city.”

“The Italian fascists dropped a considerable amount of bombs on the evacuation of Spanish refugees on the road to Almeria, thereby killing thousands and thousands of civilian refugees, the majority being elderly , women and children.”

“By commemorating the death of these Italian soldiers, the mayor of La Linea is normalising the actions of fascist Europe under Hitler and Mussolini that brought so much death and destruction to Europe.”

“This offends the memory of all those who died during WWII and also the values of all democrats today.”

“We therefore call upon the British Government to use all diplomatic avenues to ensure the cancellation of this event this coming Sunday.”