Amada García Rodriguez (Mugardos, 1911 – Ferrol, 1938) was a Galician Communist activist. She lived in the Galician village of

Mugardos Mugardos is a small fishing borough and municipality in the comarca of Ferrol (comarca), Ferrol, located in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is bordered with the municipaliti ...

. She was arrested while pregnant, and after she gave birth she was shot along with seven other people at St Philip's Castle by

Francoist Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

military forces during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Woman, youth and communist activist

Amada García was a Communist Party young activist in

, near

Ferrol Ferrol may refer to: Places * Ferrol (comarca), a coastal region in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain * Ferrol, Spain, industrial city and naval station in Galicia, Spain ** Racing de Ferrol, an association football club * Ferrol, Romblon, municipality in ...

, in Galicia. Enrolled in politics, she took part in political meetings and in other activities ordinarily not carried out by women, and this caused a shocking effect in the most conservative groups in the village in the 1930s.

Uprising and illegal repression

In 1936, under Franco's leadership, falangists and military

fascists Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social h ...

took over Galicia after a failed coup to overthrown the central government in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. They imposed a heavy repression, especially in the

region. Several hundred people died and went missing here without trial, or with a sham trial done to punish leftist political activities.

Arrest and death of Amada García

Amada was arrested when she was pregnant. Thereby, the

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

and subsequent execution was delayed until after the birth. While waiting for the child's birth, she was imprisoned in the Women's Prison in Ferrol. Afterwards, she was taken to St Phillip's Castle, a military prison on the shores of Ferrol bay. There she was shot, the day after she gave birth, by a firing squad on January 27, 1938, along with seven other persons, at the castle wall and her son was later raised by catholic nuns . The others' names are Juan José Teixeiro Leira, José Maria Montero Martínez, Ángel Roldos Gelpi, and Antonio Eitor Caniça, from

; Ramón Rodrigues Lopes e Jaime Gonçales Peres, from

Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...

; and Germán Lopes García, from Cabanas. The

was filled with irregularities: false testimony signed without knowing by an illiterate witness, and death threats and fines to the witness for the defense. Oral sources said that there was a solidarity movement among the prisoners in order to avoid the young activist's execution, and even the soldiers had to shoot twice, because they missed with the first volley. She still stood and the officer ordered, very angrily, to shoot the woman, who fell fatally wounded. Homenagem06

Amada García in Galician historical memory

Her daughter became a nun, and her minor son, Gabriel, was initially given to his father, but finally was brought up by three very Catholic aunts. Amada's sister shut herself up in the Eiris Monastery. A good friend of her mother, Maria José Leira, was condemned to death, but later left Galicia after a commutation. She was condemned for embroidering a communist flag, and her husband, a school-teacher, had been executed a short time before. Nowadays, Amada's son, Gabriel, pays visits to the wall of the castle where his mother was executed. He continues to denounce his mother's execution. He also works to spread awareness of his mother's story, and the lack of political commitment to the victims of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

in Galicia.

Bibliography

* BARRERA BEITIA, Enrique: ''Ferrol, 1931–1952. De la república a la posguerra''. Edicións Embora, Ferrol, Galiza, 2005. * VELASCO SOUTO, Carlos: ''Represión e alzamento militar en Galiza''. A Nosa Terra, Vigo, Galiza, 2006.

External links

Civil War and repression in Ferrol
. In Galician Language {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Amada 1911 births 1938 deaths People from Ferrol (comarca) History of Galicia (Spain) Politicians from Galicia (Spain) Spanish communists Executed revolutionaries Executed Spanish women Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War Communists executed by Francoist Spain People executed by Spain by firing squad