DEATH OF A PRESIDENT – The tragic story of Josep Sunyol

By Iain McMullen
Updated: 23 December, 2011

Elsewhere in Spain, Franco’s troops had control of many key cities, including Bilbao, Sevilla and Zaragoza, and were pressing hard on the capital of Madrid itself.

It was quickly decided however, that football needed to continue in some manner and the new ‘committee’ announced Barça would participate in a Catalan league.

To reduce any unnecessary financial burden, many of the clubs overseas stars were taken of the books and the club went about the daily business of football as best they could.

It was immediately after these meetings in late July 1936 that Josep Sunyol left the city of Barcelona for the last time, travelling first to Valencia, then on to Madrid.

There has been some uncertainty as to why have made the journey but it seems likely it was politically motivated in order to meet with other members of the cortes in the besieged capital.

Early on the 5 August, Sunyol made his way out of Madrid in his chauffeur-driven car, flying the Catalan senyera, and travelled along the Corunna road towards the town of Guadarrama.

The hills overlooking the town had become a focal point for the Francoist troops’ push on Madrid and there was a confusing line of outposts and checkpoints scattered in the wooded valleys and crests.

It has been claimed that Sunyol believed he was still within Republican lines as his car made its way up the mountain road, but it would have been quickly apparent this was not the case as he was stopped at a checkpoint manned by Falangist troops on the evening of the 6 August 1936.

Josep Sunyol was instantly recognised and was executed by his captors soon after.

Rumours of the Barcelona presidents death reached the city two days later but, in a period of great confusion, the details were never corroborated and Sunyol’s tragic fate was almost forgotten as the blood-letting engulfed the country.

Franco’s troops finally marched into Barcelona 26 January 1939 and the war ended soon after, followed by the most brutal of reprisals for the regions that had held out against the nationalists.

A general amnesia spread over the country in the decades that followed, as the country attempted to get on with their lives, and the thousands of victims of the war and its aftermath with consigned to history, including the fate of Sunyol.

Franco died in 1975 and Spain began the slow transition to democracy, despite the attempts of some of the dictators staunchest allies.

The Civil War was seldom mentioned and the fiftieth anniversary of Sunyol’s death in 1986 was ignored by the club and it’s then-president, Josep Lluis Nuñez.

There were growing calls for action however, and ten years later, following a huge campaign, numerous newspapers article and extensive research, club officials attended a ceremony near to the spot were Josep Sunyol was executed.

Despite this, Barça were still criticised by groups such as Els Amics de Josep Sunyol, who claimed there should have been something more befitting of a man who had played such an important role in the history of the football club.

There was also some consternation when the stone monument erected near Guadarrama bore the Castilian spelling of Sunyol’s name, Josep Suñol.

Almost 73 years have now passed since the bloodiest civil conflict in living memory ended, and it is only now that many in Spain can begin addressing the events that brought so much blood shed to its villages, towns and cities during the war and the dictatorship.

FC Barcelona are no different in that respect, the memories of that period were forgotten for so long in the ‘years of amnesia’, however there should also be a sense of shame for some officials involved in the repeated refusal to acknowledge the memory of Josep Sunyol.

Ultimately of course, football and politics should never mix, but they all too often do in this complicated country.

For proof of that, you only need to take a trip up to that windy spot just outside the town of Guadarrama.

_______________________________________

For further information on the history of FC Barcelona and the death of Josep Sunyol, read the excellent Barça – A people’s passion By Jimmy Burns.

Also recommended are Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett, iGuerra! By Jason Webster and The Spanish Civil War by Paul Preston.

DEATH OF A PRESIDENT – The tragic story of Josep Sunyol

Related Posts

One Comment