The Monumento a las Brigadas Internacionales marks the site of the Battle of Ciudad Universitaria. It was erected on 22 October 2011 to honor the foreign volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War.
Rather than existing solely as a site of reflection, the memorial became a legal point of contention. After the structure was vandalised, a complaint was filed in 2013. The Supreme Court in Madrid upheld the complaint, ruling that the monument violated local planning regulations and should be removed.
The university countered that the local government had never actually acknowledged the application for the site. This bureaucratic stalemate continued until the case was dismissed in 2017.
Today, the plaque remains on the campus of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Visitors can see the tribute to the International Brigades as they walk through the university grounds.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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