Locals come together to restore feminist mural targeted by vandals

Locals come together to restore feminist mural targeted by vandals

CREDIT: Ayuntamiento Alcala de Henares

RESIDENTS of all ages in Alcala de Henares in Madrid joined forces on Sunday, March 7, to repaint a feminist mural targeted by vandals.

The mural was found to have been vandalised just 24 hours before Women’s Day.

Locals came to show their support and their discontent over the attack committed against the work of art which demands equality for women.

One of the artists who participated in painting the original mural, Celia Escobar, explained that it was vandalised at around 6am by unknown people but painted later in the day, with the help of locals.

The aim was to fill it with “beautiful, positive messages” she said, as opposed to the hate of the vandals, but she explained that it was not clear if it would be restored. For now, it will remain as it is, and “when things calm down, we will see what we do, if we repaint it again”, Escobar said.

It has the images of 10 pioneering Spanish women, Clara Campoamor, Ana Maria Matute, Margarita Salas, Blanca Fernandez Ochoa, Maria Zambrano, Maria Isidra de Guzman, Catalina de Aragon, Dolors Aleu, Francisca de Pedraza and Gata Cattana.

Escobar said that the mural was painted by “men and women who want equality” and that as “the message of hatred was very powerful throughout Spain it is necessary to send other messages that are in favour of feminism.”

The mural in Alcala de Henares is a replica of one in Ciudad Lineal, Madrid, which was almost erased by the City Council, although the decision was later reversed. The replica was commissioned by Alcala de Henares Town Council to commemorate International Women’s Day and was made at the auditorium of the roundabout dedicated to Manuel Azaña.


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Jennifer Leighfield

Jennifer Leighfield, born in Salisbury, UK; resident in Malaga, Spain since 1989. Degree in Translation and Interpreting in Spanish, French and English from Malaga University (2005), specialising in Crime, Forensic Medicine and Genetics. Published translations include three books by Richard Handscombe. Worked with Euro Weekly News since November 2006. Well-travelled throughout Spain and the rest of the world, fan of Harry Potter and most things ‘geek’.

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