The King: "We cannot allow generations to ignore what happened"

Stresses that the victims "dignify our democracy" and deserve "permanent respect and maximum consideration"

King Felipe VI has urged, in the tribute to Miguel Ángel Blanco, to "persevere so that what we have experienced does not fall into oblivion, so that unity summons us around our recent history, so that the spirit of Ermua reminds us every day, the value of peace, life, freedom and democracy".

"We cannot allow that there are generations that ignore what happened in those painful days of our history", underlined Felipe VI, who stressed that the victims "dignify our democracy" and deserve "permanent respect and maximum consideration"

The King closed this Sunday the institutional event held in the Biscayan town of Ermua on the 25th anniversary of the kidnapping and murder of the PP mayor Miguel Ángel Blanco by ETA and also in memory of Sotero Mazo, murdered in 1980 by ETA. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, the mayor of Ermua, Juan Carlos Abascal, and the sister of Miguel Ángel Blanco, Marimar Blanco, also took part in the tribute.

After explaining that the Queen also wanted to attend this tribute and was sorry that she could not do so, Felipe VI began his speech by recalling that on July 14, 1997 he came to Ermua, then as a prince, and assured that he will not be able to forget "every moment " vivid. "Like all Spaniards who love life and freedom, he was dismayed, moved, devastated," he explained, recalling that he was then 29 years old, the same age as Miguel Ángel Blanco when he was murdered.

The King has specified that, with the memory of Blanco and Mazo this Sunday, "we also once again honor all the victims of terrorism", to whose families he has conveyed his "closeness, affection and affection".

Felipe VI has reviewed in his speech "what happened, its enormous importance", and also what he lived and felt in those "so dramatic" days.

In the first place, he stressed that, when ETA kidnapped and murdered Miguel Ángel Blanco, in Ermua "a spirit was born that transcended its limits, spread throughout Spain and was -without a doubt- decisive and decisive in our history of the fight against terrorism".

"There are dates that remain forever in our memory, that accompany us throughout our lives. The days from July 10 to 14, 1997 are impossible to forget. Today, 25 years ago, on Thursday, July 10, days after the Civil Guard released José Antonio Ortega Lara, all of Spain was paralyzed by the news of the kidnapping -one more in that terrible time- of another innocent: It was Miguel Ángel Blanco.From half past three that afternoon, we were all with his family ; we were all -we feel- the same family", he recalled.

A few hours later, he stressed, after learning of "the despicable ultimatum, Ermua, under the leadership of its then Mayor Carlos Totorika and the Municipal Corporation, spontaneously took to the streets as a sign of solidarity and rejection..., of a resounding rejection of an unbearable situation for a tired, exhausted society, fed up with terror and fear".

The King recalled that in those days there were calls for minutes of silence and demonstrations in the streets "that transmitted an unequivocal and unanimous message".

"Ermua did not rest. In fact, he did not rest for a single moment, and returned to the streets before the end of the day. No one wanted to return home. No one could do it. The suffering of those moments was such that it became collective The vigils continued to light up the night. People who knew each other, but also many strangers, gathered around what became known as the spirit of Ermua," he recalled.

As he has remarked, that spirit spread and "the paralyzing fear of terrorism was getting smaller and smaller in the face of the massive mobilizations that took to the streets, public spaces, banishing the violence that had appropriated them for so many years."

Felipe VI has remarked that, after the murder, "all the feelings accumulated during those days of such intensity overflowed" and it was then that "we were unable to repress them" and "that same family that we were part of joined even more". "That unit provided a security that we had never felt, removing the fear that had been present in our environment for so many years and causing a generalized and forceful rejection of the physical, psychological and emotional violence imposed during all that time," he added.

As he recalled, "hands painted white returned. And the blue ties gave way to black ties. Demonstrations and rallies multiplied in number and participation." "They were the largest mobilizations in the history of Spanish democracy at that time. Until then, we had never witnessed such a determined response as the one that occurred in those days," he stressed.

THE MEMORY OF BLANCO MUST REMAIN ALIVE

In this way, he reiterated that "coming to Ermua then is impossible to forget" and the town "was too small to accommodate so much solidarity, so much respect". In the King's words, "that day is an indelible part of our collective memory."

In the same way, he added, "doing it today is also, still is, always will be." "The memory of Michelangelo must live on so that the invaluable meaning of those days also lives on. It is justice," she remarked.

The King has pointed out that "the consciences of the Spaniards were mobilized" but, even so, "many years had to pass, many more episodes of kidnappings, murders and threats; of suffering, death and mourning". In any case, he has insisted that "Ermua -his spirit of him-of him, was one of the most relevant moments that marked the path towards its end for ETA".

"That turning point, sad and devastating, has brought us here. The spirit of Ermua is the victory of the collective conscience of all our people; it is the victory of dignity and morality over fear and terror; it is example, in short, of our strength", he assessed.

For all these reasons, Felipe VI has warned that "it cannot be allowed that there are generations that ignore what happened in those painful days of our history, that do not know how and why it united our collective conscience, that ignore something that also contributed to establish our coexistence or the massive movement that took place in Spain after an assassination that marked our democratic life so much".

As he indicated, "those days also remind us that we have to defend, as a permanent duty, the rights of which Miguel Ángel Blanco, Sotero Mazo and all the victims of terrorism were deprived: life, liberty and dignity". "Likewise, it is our responsibility to defend the values ​​and principles on which our democratic coexistence is based," he added.

The King has claimed that the victims of terrorism "dignify our democracy". "Their pain and that of their families matters to us and concerns us. That is why they permanently deserve our respect and our utmost consideration," he said.

In this framework, he encouraged "persevering so that what we have experienced does not fall into oblivion, so that unity gathers us around our recent history, so that the spirit of Ermua reminds us every day of the value of peace, of life, freedom and democracy".