Manresa will inaugurate Metralla, a new memorial to local victims of the Spanish Civil War, on Friday 18 July at 11am in Plaça de la Independència. The Ajuntament de Manresa, the city council, says the nine-metre sculpture is intended as a permanent act of recognition for people in Manresa who suffered during the conflict.

For residents, the immediate detail is practical as well as symbolic: the unveiling is scheduled as a public event in the city square and forms part of Manresa's official democratic memory programme marking 90 years since the start of the war. The council's agenda lists the inauguration itself, and the programme is presented as a civic act of remembrance and reflection.

"The monument wants to become a permanent tribute to all the victims and a symbol for preserving collective memory, dignity and justice, as well as a space for civic reflection."Ajuntament de Manresa

Metralla will stand in Plaça de la Independència

According to the Ajuntament de Manresa, Metralla has been conceived as a tribute to all Manresa victims of the Civil War. The work is by Marc Sellarès, an artist from the Bages area whose biography on his official website sets out a career in sculpture and public art.

The inauguration date, 18 July, is also the date used by the council in its wider memorial programme to mark the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the war in 1936. By placing the monument in Plaça de la Independència, the council is giving the memorial a permanent public location rather than housing it in a museum or temporary exhibition space.

  • What: Inauguration of the Metralla memorial sculpture
  • When: Friday 18 July at 11am
  • Where: Plaça de la Independència, Manresa
  • Artist: Marc Sellarès
  • Height: Nine metres
  • Entry: The council agenda lists it as a public inauguration, with no ticketing information stated

Part of Manresa's 90th-anniversary memory programme

The memorial launch sits within a broader programme organised by the Ajuntament de Manresa to commemorate 90 years since the beginning of the Civil War. That programme includes activities linked to democratic memory across the city.

One of the listed events is a guided visit to UN FOC CREIXENT, an exhibition by Marc Sellarès advertised by Manresa Cultura, the council's cultural agenda service. Its relevance here is direct: the exhibition is by the same artist behind Metralla, and it appears in the same commemorative programme as the new memorial.

For anyone planning to attend, the official channels currently cited are the Ajuntament de Manresa's announcement of the 90th-anniversary programme and the Manresa Cultura agenda listing. Those are the places where the city has published the date, time and programme details for the inauguration and related events.

Reported by Ajuntament de Manresa, Manresa Cultura (Ajuntament de Manresa), Marc Sellarès (Artist's Official Website), Regió 7.