Remembering-carles-vallejo-franco-torture-victim

## Remembering Carles Vallejo: Franco Torture Victim and Guardian of Historical Memory

Carles Vallejo, a former political prisoner and president of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Francoism, is a living testament to the brutal repression endured under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. Arrested at just 20 for his involvement in a clandestine trade union at SEAT, Vallejo was detained in December 1970 and subjected to 20 days of relentless torture at Barcelona’s Via Laietana police station-a site that rights groups now campaign to turn into a remembrance museum[1][2][5].

Vallejo’s ordeal included beatings, humiliation, and psychological torment before being sent to La Model prison, where solitary confinement was a reprieve compared to the torture he had faced. After multiple arrests and fearing a 20-year sentence, Vallejo fled to France and Italy, returning only after Franco’s death and a partial amnesty[1][2][5].

Despite Spain’s so-called “Pact of Forgetting,” which granted impunity to perpetrators of Franco-era crimes, Vallejo has dedicated his life to ensuring these abuses are not erased from history. The man who tortured him, Genuino Navales, was never prosecuted and was even promoted during Spain’s transition to democracy[1][2][7].

Vallejo’s story is a powerful reminder that confronting the past is essential to safeguarding democracy and human rights for future generations[1].