“The history of the Castle of Paso Alto in Santa Cruz, cannot be limited to the Gesta. Many other events took place there. It was a site of repression and confinement during Franco’s dictatorship,” stated Mercedes Pérez Schwartz, president of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of the Island of Tenerife (ARMHT), in an interview with Atlántico Hoy.

The Castle of Paso Alto is situated on the coast of Santa Cruz. Built in the 16th century, it played a significant role in the defence of Tenerife, with its cannons contributing to the British defeat during Nelson’s attack in 1797. Historical accounts also tell that the pirate Cabeza de Perro was imprisoned there until his execution.

A Site of Democratic Memory

However, the use of these very dungeons for repressing and imprisoning many individuals during the dictatorship is not part of the city’s or the nation’s narrative, as expressed by the association’s president.

“The exterior of the castle and its surroundings look well-kept; I cannot speak for the inside,” Pérez noted, emphasising that for a long time they have been advocating for this location to be declared a Site of Democratic Memory, thus adhering to the state legislation passed in 2022.

Political Prisoners

Paso Alto was the chosen site by the dictatorship to confine political prisoners, including some of the most notable figures from the Second Republic, following the military coup of 18 July 1936. Among those incarcerated were influential individuals such as the last republican mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Carlos Schwartz, and the Civil Governor, Manuel Vázquez Moro, both arrested within hours on that fateful day.

On 13 October, Vázquez Moro was executed alongside other republican leaders; his body was discarded in mass grave number 6 of sector 7 of the Cemetery of Santa Lastenia in Santa Cruz, while Schwartz’s remains remain missing.

Repression and Disappearances

“Both Agustín Moro and Navarro were tried at the Audiencia, now known as the Parliament. My grandfather was arrested on 18 July and confined in Paso Alto,” details Mercedes Pérez Schwartz, granddaughter of José Carlos Schwartz, adding that during his imprisonment, he was only allowed visits from his two youngest children. “His wife, my grandmother, was prohibited from visiting,” she recalls.

“One day, some men from the right, acquaintances of my grandfather, came to the prison and took him away, saying he would return home. It was 2 October. He never came back,” she remembers, noting that her grandfather was only taken out “until then” to be forced to work and clean latrines at Fyffes, after which he was returned to prison.

Robbery at Home

“On the day he disappeared, they told my grandmother he had been released. My grandmother said: ‘He hasn’t been released because he would have returned home,’” she clarifies. Pérez Schwartz states that on the day he was arrested, he asked his wife to leave with the children to stay with relatives, abandoning their own home, which also contained his law office on a side street leading to calle de Robayna in the capital of Tenerife.

She explains that that night, under the pretext of searching for weapons, they looted the house and the office, stealing the family’s valuable belongings. “My grandmother, a strong woman, went to the Captaincy and reported the incident,” and the captain, a military officer, agreed with her, acknowledging that what had occurred was not a search but a robbery, though she never recovered the stolen items.

65 Prisoners

Throughout the early years of Francoism, Paso Alto served as a space for judicial proceedings of the regime and housing dozens of prisoners, many of whom were military personnel or law enforcement members loyal to the republican government, such as those processed in Causa 50 of 1936. According to the research by Pedro Medina Sanabria, in 1937, Paso Alto had 65 registered prisoners from other municipalities.

“It is ironic that this list of prisoners was signed by Francisco La Roche, acting mayor, and that it still names one of the main avenues in the capital, violating the 2007 Memory Law,” she notes.

Seven Years of Waiting

Pérez also emphasises that the Castle of Paso Alto is one of the few remaining sites of repression in the capital of Tenerife, following the loss of locations such as Fyffes, the Cavalry Barracks, the temporarily located provincial prison on San Miguel Street, and the Toscal women’s prison, or the dismantling of prison ships docked in the capital’s port.

The president of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Tenerife recalls that they have spent over seven years highlighting the importance of this site and requesting that this agreement be reached, so that it may take its rightful place in collective memory, “as a site that helps explain and understand what occurred during those years, while also honouring and dignifying the victims of these abuses.”

Request to Initiate Proceedings

The Association believes it is necessary to break from the Francoist past and equip the city with a centre that allows interpretation and understanding of what occurred, providing a face to the victims and allowing associations to conduct educational and cultural activities related to democratic memory.

With a focus on this former prison, the Association has initiated the process as outlined in article 50.1 of Law 20/2022, dated 19 October, on Democratic Memory, aiming for the former prison of Paso Alto in the capital of Tenerife to be declared a Site of Democratic Memory.

“Many years later, we have had to step forward and submit this request for the proceedings to be initiated and for the relevant process to take place, both by the Department of Justice of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry of Defence,” she concludes, hoping that the request will lead to the declaration of Paso Alto as a Site of Democratic Memory.