Memory Route: Lorratzak

Having examined the traces left by the past, we have sought to summarise the suffering endured by Otxandio from the start of the ruthless war launched by General Franco on 18 July 1936 until 4 April 1937, the date on which Franco’s forces entered the town. Clarification • Opponents of the Republic: Francoist forces, the insurgents (for leading the military uprising against the Republic). Other terms: the uprising forces, the rebels, the Nationalist side... • Supporters of the Republic: militiamen (volunteers), gudariak, Eusko Gudarostea (Basque Government Army) • Eusko Jaurlaritza: Basque Government. Santamarinas of 1936: On Saturday 18 July 1936, when Franco’s forces announced the military uprising against the Republic, Otxandio was celebrating its patron saint’s festivities, Santamarinas. On the 19th, leaflets in support of the uprising were dropped from aeroplanes. On the 20th, the first militiamen (supporters of the Republic) arrived and the state of war became more evident. The militiamen took up positions in the church and under the arcades of the Town Hall. On the 21st, a second column consisting of soldiers and militiamen arrived from Bilbao. Their aim was to take Legutio, together with another column coming from Gipuzkoa, and thus gain control of Gasteiz. However, the column from Gipuzkoa failed to appear and, after taking Legutio, the militiamen decided to return to Otxandio. Legutio would remain, definitively, in the hands of Franco’s forces.