Sánchez tells Blanco that they will continue "pledged in memory and remembrance" even if no acknowledgment is "enough"

He defends building "a collective memory" so that "society does not forget" and underlines the Spirit of Ermua as that of "unity and peace"

BILBAO, 10 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has transferred Mari Mar Blanco, sister of the popular mayor assassinated by ETA, that they will continue "dedicated to memory and remembrance", although he is aware that no acknowledgment or measure will be "never enough " to make up for the absence of his relative.

Sánchez has made these demonstrations in Ermua (Bizkaia) where he has gone to attend the tribute to the victims of terrorism on the occasion of the XXV anniversary of the kidnapping and murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco.

Precisely, in his speech he addressed his sister, Mari Mar Blanco, directly to convey to her that they are aware that "neither all the acts of recognition, nor the awarding of decorations, nor the assistance measures of a support nature, nor the tributes will be never enough to make up for the absence of your brother Miguel Ángel".

"Neither that of Miguel Ángel, nor that of all those men and women who, like him, went out one day to work, to defend their political ideas in a City Hall, to write in a newspaper, to teach at the university or simply to walk and never returned, leaving an irreplaceable gap in their families", he pointed out.

Sánchez has stated that, despite this, they must continue "committed to memory and remembrance". "And we must remain committed to affection for the victims, because part of our dignity as a society we owe to all of them," she added.

The President of the Government has indicated that peace has cost "a lot of pain" and has expressed his wish that this "pain be definitively transformed into an indestructible collective conscience that always protects from violence".

In his speech, he stressed that there are times when people are aware that they are witnessing an event that "formed part of history" and indicated that 25 years ago the "cruel murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco set a date essential in the history of democracy".

"All of us, if we look back, we remember where we were on July 13, 1997 when the worst news came," added the president.

He added that they also remember that "a spontaneous common front against violence, injustice and barbery" was born, that of a citizenry, "Basque and Spanish citizens, who, tired of feeling fear and more united than ever, faced terrorism" .

"With white hands full of peace, using the same gesture that thousands of students had used a year earlier at the Autonomous University of Madrid, after the murder of Francisco Tomás y Valiente", he added. As he recalled, millions of people "opened those white hands" in "massive" demonstrations throughout the Basque Country and throughout Spain and together they demanded "justice, peace and freedom."

"We would never be afraid again and we would never be silent again because of those who resorted to violence against anyone who thought differently," he said.

Sánchez has indicated that the collective memory of the country, which is that "of each and every one, the one that is shared" is "traversed by what happened in Basque society and in Spanish society during those hours of sadistic ultimatum".

As he underlined, something changed everyone "forever" and, since then, Spain was "a different country that would never bow to terror again."

Sánchez added that the Spirit of Ermua that was born then is "the spirit of unity and peace, it is the spirit of coexistence and harmony". "And it is that indelible mark that gives this tribute its name and that we owe to Miguel Ángel Blanco", he pointed out.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, recalled that last October marked the tenth anniversary of the end of terrorism in Spain, ten years in which it has been necessary to "rebuild everything that, with violence, with threats, with extortion and intimidation, they had tried to destroy".

"Ten years to remember that, although ETA did not achieve any of its objectives, it left behind fatalities (854), 86 kidnapping victims and more than 7,000 wounded, not counting the families of all of them. Ten years in which those hopes for peace that we demanded in 1997 have finally become a reality," he said.

Pedro Sánchez has assured that, if today the Basque Country and Spain are "free and peaceful countries" it is thanks to all "those who opted for the unity of the parties in the face of terror and hatred" and also thanks to the work of justice, to the "essential" international collaboration, to the "valuable and courageous" work of the FSE, the Ertzaintza and the Municipal Police and, of course, to Basque and Spanish society".

In his speech, he stressed that many young people today were not born when Miguel Ángel Blanco was assassinated and indicated that "fortunately" there is growing up "a generation that has not lived in a Spain surrounded by the action of terrorism". As he has indicated, that is an "immense joy", but he has defended that it is necessary to continue "telling this story and keeping it alive because they also deserve to know it".

"And because we also need society not to forget", pointed out Sánchez, who highlighted the efforts of Basque civil society organizations to "maintain the memory of Michelangelo and the memory of each and every one of the victims of terrorism" , has manifested.

Likewise, he added that initiatives such as those being deployed by the Ministries of the Interior and of Education and Vocational Training are also important, which, under the title "Memory and Prevention of Terrorism", will bring direct testimonies of the victims to the classrooms of secondary education and baccalaureate throughout Spain.

He has also indicated that there is "a great example" of this new page of history was the inauguration of the Memorial Center Museum for the victims of terrorism in Vitoria, which, "if it is going to do anything is preserve and spread the democratic and ethical values ​​that embody the victims".

"Spaces that rise to build a collective memory and continue the defense of freedom and human rights. And so is the exercise of memory that you carry out here today in Ermua, such as this commemorative institutional act," he added.