The Monument

The monument, on the NW chamfer corner of Joan Güell and Europa streets, lies within the former prison boundaries, and was inaugurated in 2019. There are plans to expand it and turn it into a space for people to meet, stroll by, and deliberate

 

 

It is an open and dynamic space, built to high standards, and promoted by a grassroots initiative with a feminist outlook, aimed at the preservation of memory.

It represents a turning point in the campaign for the erection of a monument dedicated to the memory of the women imprisoned at Les Corts, and it facilitates the continuity and the development of the civic network involved in its creation through the various uses suggested in its design.

Five distinctive totem figures, in sandblasted matte stainless steel, that were recovered from the provisional monument, stand upon a grey basalt base, with the words “Presó” (Prison) and “Dones” (Women) superimposed over the iconic photograph taken by Carlos Pérez de Rozas in 1944, during the Franco regime.

The totems, together with the new planting of Cercis Siliquastrum -spring flowering trees- and the truncated conical lighting, project the space vertically, integrating it with the tops of the plane tress -Platanus Hispanica- and, in the background, with the building, pre-existing in the area.

The main feature of the monument consists of six jetty stones of varying dimensions, textures, colours, and forms. 

Each one of them carries a particular symbolism as a showcase for a singular historical reality, and  as a token of the Memorialist organisations that provided them.

The Monument - Memory Site Les Corts Women's Prison Monument was officially inaugurated on the 14th of December of 2019, with the attendance of the Barcelona mayoress alongside district and city representatives.

The event was animated by an artistic performance made possible by the joint efforts of  La Caldera, a local dance workshop, and the Taula de Dones of Les Corts (a local group of women with the aim of creating places where women can get together and share common activities in the district).

Tall de la pedra de Macael (Almería). Núria Ricart, 2019.

Hundreds of children were imprisoned alongside their mothers at Les Corts

Cehegin's stone Cutting, 2019. Photo Núria Ricart Ulldemolins

Thousands of women suffered political, physical, moral and sexual repression

Solsona's stone loading, 2019. Photo Plataform Monument Prison of Les Corts

The people from outside the walls engaged in providing the necessary support and assistance to the inmates were mainly other women (mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters) 

Sepúlveda stone, 2019.  Platform Future Monument Prison of Les Corts

The political prisoners promoted solidarity, learning and resistance

 Loading the Bustarviejo stone

It was a transitional prison. Women from all over Spain, many of the from Madrid, passed through Les Corts on their way to other jails

 Tria de la pedra de Montjuïch, 2019

Twelve women from Les Corts prison were executed by fire squad at the Campo de la Bota in 1939 and 1940. Their places of origin were Barcelona, Tarragona, Madrid, and León.