This simple yet moving event served to reclaim the meaning of Navarra Avenue. The street was originally named Avenida de la República from July 21, 1931, to August 21, 1936. It was later renamed Avenida de los Tercios de Navarra by the factional corporation that overthrew the democratically elected government in Tolosa during the Second Republic, as a tribute to the coup troops who occupied the town.
The restoration of this name is the result of the work and initiative of the Republican Forum of Tolosa, and it received the full agreement of the entire Municipal Corporation. This event has prompted reflections on the importance of memory and the resignification of public spaces in our towns.
Resignifications must help us not to forget, but also to ensure that it does not happen again. And, on that path, it is essential to recognize and dignify all victims, clearly and without exception reject all forms of violence and human rights violations suffered, integrating that memory into the public space honestly and shared.
In Tolosa, as in other parts of the country, there is a more recent and uncomfortable memory, marked by the pain of victims of political violence in recent decades. It is felt that much work remains to be done in this regard, and that we must address our own geography of pain, also by giving that memory the physical space it deserves in our streets and squares, and following a path similar to that taken by other cities like Donostia, as a pedagogical and civic commitment in favor of the culture of peace and human rights.
