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On the Rambla de la Llibertat in Girona you can see this monument against the death penalty, in memory of Carles Rahola i Llorens (1881-1939), journalist, historian and essayist, editor of the Catalan and republican newspaper L’Autonomista and who died shot by the Francoist side at the age of 58.
The sculpture occupies a prominent place on this walk, as can be seen in these photographs in The Readers’ Photos of La Vanguardia, in a place of daily passage.
According to the map of commemorative monuments of Catalonia, Rahola was shot “one month and 11 days after the entry of the nationals into Girona solely for having published some articles against the bombings and against fascism in L’Autonomista.”
He had not gone into exile because he had not considered that his activity during the war had placed him in serious danger. “He thus became the clearest example of the violence of Franco’s post-war repression,” he details.
The award, starting in 1980, of an essay prize with his name, along with the Premi Prudenci Bertrana, has contributed to his memory, as have several monographs and compilations of his writings.
The democratic and tolerant nature of his career makes him a transversal model. The paragraph against the death penalty that the monument contains is his.
