A street in Burgos

[Bert45]

Burgos recognizes the work of Dr. Aurelio Alemán with the name of a street.
The City Council has removed Bernabé Pérez Ortiz Street for failing to comply with the Law of Historical Memory and has awarded the honour to the well-known doctor specialized in the digestive system.

This is Google Translate's rendition of an article on Burgosconecta. The Law of Historical Memory is concerned with events of the Spanish Civil War (Wikipedia). Could anyone with a good knowledge of Spanish explain how Calle Bernabé Péres Ortiz failed to comply with that law? Thanks.

 

[trecile]

Do you have a link to the original article?

 

[Bert45]

Yes, here it is: https://www.burgosconecta.es/burgos/burgos-reconoce-trabajo-20180503144531-nt.html

 

[J Willhaus]

As I understand it, after Franco there was a sort of decree to forget and not talk about the Civil War or all the atrocities committed by either side. More recently in 2022 there was a law passed that the lessons of the Civil War should be taught to school children. I am guessing that the former namesake supported the party line in the previous generation of forgetting the sacrifices made in the war and under Franco.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Go here, translate and search. A Franco supporter.

https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1870-719X2020000200131

 

[Kathar1na]

There are two "Memory Laws".

The 2022 law is known as the Democratic Memory Law. It includes provisions for the education of students regarding the Franco dictatorship.

The 2007 law is known as the Historical Memory Law. Its article 15 refers to symbols and public monuments. It says that local, regional and national administrations must remove conmemorativas de exaltación, personal o colectiva, de la sublevación militar, de la Guerra Civil y de la represión de la Dictadura.

Sublevación militar is the 1936 coup.

This article 15 is the reason why the street has now been renamed: Calle Bernabé Pérez Ortiz. Burgalés residente en Argentina, contribuyó eficazmente a financiar la sublevación. Fue un activo propagandista de la causa durante la guerra y la Dictadura. Se ve afectada por el art. 15 de la Ley 52/2007.

As a native of Burgos and wealthy emigrant in Argentina, he supported many causes in Burgos, including those of a non-political charitable nature. But as the decision about the name change of the street says, he also supported the 1936 coup financially and was an active propagandist of Franco's side of the civil war and during the Franco dictatorship.

 

[Kathar1na]

And just in case that the next question is: What was the street in Burgos called before it was called calle Bernabé Perez Ortiz?

The answer is easy. It had no name. It was baptised Bernabé Perez Ortiz in 1954 and kept this name until 2017 or thereabouts.

A newspaper article of the Diario de Burgos of 18 September 1954 tells us all about it: a nameless street between house #31 on calle de Vitoria and the building of the Grupo Escolar Conmemorativo Generalissimo Franco. Of course that is also a conmemorativo of the past. The school is now called Colegio Público Río Arlanzón.

What does Goethe's Faust famously say to Gretchen in Part I? Name ist Schall und Rauch. Names are but noise and smoke.

 

[Bert45]

Bernabé Pérez Ortiz was born in 1878 and died in 1957. From what I have read, it seems that he was a philanthropist. Among other awards, he was given the title of Favourite Son of Burgos. "Due to his philanthropy and generosity, he earned several distinctions among those that stand out: • The Order of Beneficence • The Grand Cross of Isabel La Católica • The title of Favorite Son of Burgos • Honorary Mayor of Pineda de la Sierra The Gold Medal of the City of Burgos, when the inauguration of said file the proposal was made for the silver medal; but the many testimonies collected in favor of it, such as those of the director of the SESA, or the ironmongers heirs of Valentín Marcos, Primitivo and Sixto Saiz Marcos, as well as those of the one who was mayor of the city during the construction of the Home- School, Manuel de la Cuesta." [Google Translated https://pinedadelasierra-blogspot-c...tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc] There is still a street with his name in his native village. Perhaps his philanthropy was directed at the wrong people at the wrong time.

 

[trecile]

Closing this thread because it's really not about the Camino or its history. A debate about this policy could turn political.