'Gibraltar was a sanctuary for refugees and Communists' during Spanish Civil War

(Source and photo: EuropaSur.es) The Autumn Courses held every year at this time every year in Algeciras had Gibraltar historian Dennis Beiso (photo) recently give a lecture titled 'Parciality and partisanship of Gibraltar society during the Spanish Civil War'. The head of Gibraltar's Historical Archive told of how British authorities on the Rock at the time made it clear that Gibraltar should not intervene in the Civil War. However, Bieso pointed out that historians believe the strategy failed as "it was foolish to expect the colony not to take part.">
The policy of non-intervention was based on two premises: not allowing the export of war materiel and preventing people from crossing the border, according to Bieso. "A law of September 3rd, 1936 ordered that no arms or munitions could be exported from Gibraltar to Spain," but the legal effort failed.

"Some British historians believe that the Rock favoured the Nationalist cause. In fact," he continues, "in June 1938 Government allowed López-Ferrer -Franco's representative on the colony- to export two containers full of arms."

The there was the Mali incident. "The British General's wife came to a bullfight in Algeciras. When the Spanish National Anthem was played, everyone stood and raised their right arm in the Fascist salute but the lady raised the wrong arm and never stretched it out, for which she was arrested and fined 25 pounds."

Beiso said that in general, the people supported the Republic. The most serious incident, according to this historian, occurred in 1939 when López-Ferrer celebrated the fall of Barcelona. The lecturer believes that the Civil War confronted the sympathizers of Franco, who were indignant about the Republican transgressions against the Church, and the unions, which favoured the Republican side.

According to Beiso, some 9,000 refugees crossed onto the Rock from July 18, 1936, mostly during the feria in La Línea. He points, too, to many warnings throughout the war about overcrowding and cholera outbreaks, and that The Gibraltar Chronicle encouraged refugees to return to Spain. "Gibraltar converted these unwelcome people into workers because by 1939, Spanish Communism became less important than German Nazism," he concluded.