La Linea to mark Civil War killings

Scores of La Linea citizens killed during the first days of the Spanish Civil War will be remembered on Wednesday as the town council unveils a plaque in their memory.
Nearly 100 people were killed on July 19, 1936, by troops loyal to General Franco who had crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and landed at Algeciras.
A day earlier, soldiers in La Linea had defied their officers and remained loyal to the Spanish republic, taking control of the Ballesteros barracks.
When Franco’s troops arrived in the town the following day, they found crowds gathered outside the barracks in support of the soldiers inside.
Franco’s troops opened fire with machine guns and mortars, killing dozens of civilians.
The plaque will be unveiled on Wednesday on the façade of the barracks, which still stands today and now houses a school.
It follows years of campaigning by the Foro por la Memoria del Campo de Gibraltar, a group which works to record the events of the Spanish Civil War.