Carabanchel 4

The old Carabanchel jail, used by Franco's bloody dictatorship to incarcerate his critics and opposers, is being torn down as I write (Oct. 25). On Sept. 20, I was in this building, 10 years abandoned and a paradise for squatters and graffitti artists, and had the chance to photograph it for a few hours. It would be fair to keep, as former political prisoners wished, the central vigilance tower and cuppola, but the Madrid government, a defender of Franco, has decided to try to erase its memory completely.

La cárcel de Carabanchel, usada por la sanguinaria dictadura de Franco para encarcelar a sus críticos y opositores, se está demoliendo en este momento (25 de oct.). El 20 de sept. estuve en el edificio, abandonado durante diez años y convertido en paraíso de ocupas y grafiteros, y pude fotografiarlo durante algunas horas. Lo justo sería conservar, como piden los ex-presos políticos, la torre central de vigilancia y la cúula, pero el gobierno de Madrid, defensor de Franco, ha decidido borrar su memoria por completo.