Vélez-Málaga inaugurates the Miguel Ángel Blanco Boulevard to pay tribute to all victims of terrorism

Vélez-Málaga inaugurated this Friday the Boulevard Miguel Ángel Blanco on Camino Viejo. This space will serve to honor the memory of all victims of terrorism in Spain, reinforcing, according to the city council, the values of freedom, unity, and democracy in the city.

Therefore, the mayor of the municipality, Jesús Lupiáñez, welcomed Mari Mar Blanco, the sister of the deceased by ETA in 1997, to offer his condolences for the event that marked, according to them, "a before and after in Spanish society." During the meeting, the mayor highlighted the importance of preserving recent historical memory and bringing it closer to the younger generations.

“Today is a very important day for Vélez-Málaga because we are fulfilling a plenary agreement adopted unanimously years ago. With the inauguration of this space, we want the figure of Miguel Ángel Blanco and the memory of all the victims of terrorism to remain alive in our city,” Lupiáñez pointed out.

Jesús Lupiáñez, Mayor of Vélez-Málaga: "We want it to be a space of union"

The mayor recalled how the city "intensely" lived those moments during the Veladilla del Carmen and emphasized that this new boulevard has been conceived as a public space, where families and young people can gather in a place of "harmony, dialogue, and hope." "We want it to be a space of union, where memory does not divide but teaches and reinforces the principles of our democracy. Vélez-Málaga will continue to be a place of welcome, respect, and defense of the values that unite us as a society," stated the mayor.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Blanco, whose career, as defined by the city council, has been based on commitment to memory, justice, and the dignity of what happened to her brother. The Municipal Band and the string trio "Arsis" enlivened the inauguration ceremony, which included the unveiling of a sculpture by local artist Francisco Martín.

Lupiáñez also wanted to highlight the institutional collaboration and civil society's role in preserving the memory of Miguel Ángel Blanco: "We deeply appreciate his sister's presence and the entire Municipal Corporation for making this tribute possible. Remembering the victims is a civic duty that strengthens us as a community," the mayor added.

What happened to Miguel Ángel Blanco

Miguel Ángel Blanco was a PP councilor in Ermua, in the Basque Country, who was kidnapped and murdered by the terrorist organization ETA in July 1997. When he died, he was 29 years old and came from a family of Galician emigrants. The terrorist organization kidnapped him on July 10, 1997, and gave the Government a 48-hour ultimatum to transfer prisoners to prisons in the Basque Country and Navarra. The terrorists fulfilled their threat and murdered the Galician councilor three days later.

During those days of anguish, the University of Navarra states that hundreds of people wrote letters to the Blanco-Garrido family in an exercise of solidarity and compassion previously unknown. The story of this young man moved Spanish society, which still remembers when ETA murdered him. The boulevard inaugurated today in Vélez-Málaga seeks to preserve his memory, transmit his legacy to new generations, and offer a space for reflection on the values of freedom and democracy.