Some of the documents kept in Catalonia’s archives conceal great secrets and remarkable stories. In Sala 113 we uncover tales full of mystery, waiting to be discovered.
T2xC10 - Tarradellas’s Dalí
President Tarradellas’s “I am here” is one of the most iconic and emotional moments in the history of Catalonia. The politician was received with enthusiasm by the crowd that had gathered before him. This was preceded by 38 years of exile and extreme economic hardships in an attempt to survive in France.
T2xC9 - The operator
Technology has advanced at such a speed that it’s hard to imagine that the big novelty a century ago was that the towns of Catalonia managed to have a telephone. Literally, one. And things were always happening around it.
T2xC8 - Death at the Liceu
In 1893, the Gran Teatre del Liceu was the scene of one of the most serious terrorist attacks ever experienced in Catalonia. The events sent shock waves through society, as the records show.
T2xC7 - Priest on the run
In July 1909, Spain was unsuccessfully attempting to conquer new colonial positions in North Africa. Faced with a shortage of personnel, it mobilised the reservists, men who were mostly already fathers. That angered the working classes, especially in Barcelona, where the Tragic Week broke out. Amidst that spiral of urban violence, a priest was involved in an episode that perfectly illustrates the mood of Barcelona in 1909.
T2xC6 - The monster of Palau de Santa Eulàlia
It has taken many years of struggle to ensure that crimes against women are given visibility and judged with severity. Centuries ago, cases had to be very flagrant to reach the judicial authorities. This is what happened in the 18th century in a small village near Castelló d’Empúries.
T2xC5 - Sticky fingers
Throughout all periods of history, there have been public servants who have taken advantage of their privileged position for their own personal benefit. In Tremp, between 1824 and 1829, an event took place that, if it happened now, would certainly make the news.
T2xC4 - The crime of Carrer Assaonadors
In the archives, there is documentation of all kinds, including that which lays bare the vileness of certain individuals, capable of the most horrific crimes for just a handful of coins, as happened in Barcelona.
T2xC3 - Explosions and Capuchins
After more than a century of waiting, the expansion works for the Port of Tarragona resumed in 1790. Having overcome so many obstacles, people were in a rush to see it grow. Perhaps a little too much so.
T2xC2 - The witches of Tortosa
In the Tortosí neighbourhood of Remolins, in 1656, a dying neighbour made a fatal accusation against two women from the neighbourhood. This would change their lives forever, because superstitions and popular beliefs carried more weight than reality.
T2xC1 - Holding all the cards
A hot summer night in 1667, in Santa Coloma de Farners, resentment boiled within a man who had long wanted to eliminate his adversary, despite his profession in theory not allowing him to know hate. The tracks of a crime can be traced in documents where you would least expect it.
T1xC9 - A macabre carnival
On the day of Carnival in 1894, in Armentera, taking advantage of the fact that the whole town was in revelry, a terrible murder was committed that would have remained unsolved if it were not for the mayor’s intuition.
T1xC8 - The crimes of Red Beard
Little do tourists imagine that, smeared with sunscreen and coated in sand, they are enjoying Catalan beaches that were once the scene of terrible pirate and corsair attacks. Some episodes have reached us in almost legendary form, but there is one that we can reconstruct step by step thanks to a notary who fought against them in 1543.
T1xC7 - Human towers do not kill
Two centuries ago, Valls was stained with blood. A series of murders threw a dark cloud over the life of the city. Sometimes, however, things are not what they seem. And what seemed on the surface to be a bitter human tower (casteller) rivalry in fact went much deeper. Two hundred years later, we uncover the mystery thanks to the documentation preserved about those events.
T1xC6 - The mechanic’s daughter
Archives work so quietly and discreetly that sometimes it seems like they’re not there. But their mission is vital to preserve the memory and history of the country. And at the most unexpected moment, their task can change a person’s life.
T1xC5 - Killing squabs
On 19 May 1928, eight children and two women were murdered in La Pobla de Ferran, a village in the municipality of Passanant, located in La Conca de Barberà. The documentation preserved in the archives allows us to reconstruct how that monstrous crime was perpetrated.
T1xC4 - Tempted by evil
For many centuries, crimes were punished with penalties that now seem terrible to us but were intended to make an example of their perpetrators. In Barcelona, in July 1612, there was a case that left a curious documentary trail.
T1xC3 - The disguised spy
Sometimes the Archive depositories preserve documents that seem to be the thing of novels and immediately capture the imagination of those who consult them. It doesn’t have to be anything too complicated. Just a photograph is enough to start asking questions and try to figure out who the people in it are.
T1xC2 - The phantom submarine
During the First World War, the German army began to use submarines. Their unexpected attacks caused panic on the high seas, especially in May 1915 with the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania. That is why, when the captain of the Loukkos explained what had happened to him in December of that year, everyone wanted to know more.
T1xC1 - The wizard of Terrassa
In a time when public healthcare was a utopia and people could not afford a doctor, there were always unscrupulous and self-proclaimed experts trying to profit from the misery of others. They were people without any kind of training who treated patients with remedies that could sometimes have serious consequences.
