SpainDear Friends, As you know, last week the supreme court of Madrid (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid) ordered that the monument honoring the International Brigades at the Complutense University be removed due to the lack of planning permission. This is a travesty in light of the fact that the city has consistently ignored the university’s application for permission, and that several memorials throughout Spain have been erected without legal permits. ALBA is very concerned with this decision and has engaged in fighting against its removal with written objections to the Spanish Ambassadors in Washington D.C. and at the United Nations, as well as to the Consul General, the Mayor of Madrid, and the Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister. Our sister organizations around the world have done the same. We are also in communication with the Complutense, and are currently awaiting further information from their front. We will be sure to update you once we have more news.
Thanks to all of you who have signed the petition to stop the removal at change.org. If you have not yet signed, please do so here. To date more than 10,500 people from around the world have signed on with their support. We have received a few comments on Facebook about the changing of the required number of signatures, and have been assured that this is a standard mechanism atchange.org to encourage as many signatures as possible. Please don’t be discouraged, this is a successful campaign! And please share the petitionwith your friends and family. We appreciate and applaud all your efforts. For those interested in writing letters directly, we highly encourage writing to the Mayor of Madrid:
Excelentísima Sra Doña Ana BotellaAlcaldesa del Ayuntamiento de MadridPalacio de CibelesPlaza de Cibeles 128014 – MadridSpainAdelante!Marina GardeExecutive Director
