Paper short abstract:

This communication examines a case study of an association that through cultural itineraries are recovering and sharing the stories of the maquis, a guerrilla group opposed to the Spanish Franco regime. By doing so, civil society is participating in the recovery of contested heritage.

Paper long abstract:

The memory of those defeated in the Spanish Civil War and persecuted during Franco’s dictatorship regime have been silenced for decades under a contested agreement known as the ‘pact of oblivion’. The Spanish Law of Historical Memory has opened the debate about representations of our negative past; however, the political positions are confronted, and the public representations are still scarce. Meanwhile, family associations and civil organizations are searching for vias to recover and share their collective memories. In different parts of the country, private and local associations are promoting cultural tours to share their stories with neighbors and strangers. We find one of such examples in the comarca of La Garrotxa, in Catalonia, where an associative group, L’ Amical d’Antics Guerrillers de Catalunya, are offering tours to reveal the history of the maquis, a guerrilla group opposed to the Franco regime. By developing their own heritage interpretation and tourism product, the group in gaining ownership over their memory. This communication examines the case study, analyzing the active construction of collective heritage by civil society without the involvement of cultural or political institutions.