The chapter of the Basilica of Pilar has removed a cross and part of the inscription from a plaque of the Virgin of Montserrat that had been on display for 86 years next to the Virgin’s dressing room. The piece commemorated the pilgrimage of 2,500 Catalans who traveled to Zaragoza in 1939 to thank for the victory of the national side at the end of the Civil War. According to OK Diario, the intervention, carried out overnight, occurs after a complaint filed with the Government of Aragon for alleged Francoist exaltation in accordance with the Democratic Memory Law.
A historical plaque modified after an individual complaint
The plaque included a cross with the dates 1936 and 1939 and the badge of the “Caballeros de España”, to the right the inscription: “We present this humble offering in thanksgiving for the liberation and the victory. Year of the victory 1939”. After the removal, only the statement on the left remains: “Two thousand five hundred pilgrims from Barcelona prostrate on this day at the feet of the Miraculous Virgin of Pilar”, accompanied by the coats of arms of Zaragoza and Barcelona.
The modification occurred after a citizen formally requested its removal, alleging that it constituted an apology for the dictatorship and violated the state regulations on historical memory.
Political pressures and jurisdictional vacuum
The Chunta Aragonesista, integrated into the Sumar coalition, demanded that the regional Executive presided over by Jorge Azcón order the removal. The Government of Aragon responded that it had no jurisdiction, since the regional Democratic Memory Law had been repealed at the request of Vox. The Department of Culture then reported the case to the Ministry of Democratic Memory, headed by Ángel Víctor Torres.
Before the central Government issued an official pronouncement, the chapter decided on its own to remove the cross and the inscription, leaving the plaque incomplete and decontextualized.
A symbol linked to the history of the temple
The devotion of the national side toward the Virgin of Pilar intensified after the bombing on August 3, 1936, when several bombs dropped by the Republican army fell on Zaragoza. Two devices directly hit the basilica without exploding, something interpreted at the time as a providential intervention. According to OK Diario, the historical detail gains greater relevance due to a striking fact: the attacking plane took off from Barcelona, the same city from which the pilgrims honored on the removed plaque departed years later.
Those pilgrimages constituted for decades a testimony of popular devotion toward the Virgin in the period following the war, especially among the combatants who attributed to Marian intercession the preservation of the temple.
More elements under review
The removed plaque is not the only symbol of the temple questioned by the Ministry of Democratic Memory. The two undetonated bombs on display in the basilica since 1936 are also in the spotlight, accompanied by the legend: “Two of the three bombs, thrown against the S.T.M. of Pilar on August 3, 1939”.
In 2023, the chapter had already hidden another inscription in Latin located next to the organ of the main altar, suppressed for containing references to the “war of liberation” and to the “victory”.