Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain — Southwestern Europe (Iberian Peninsula)
Monumento al Soldado (Monument to the Soldier)
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, September 9, 2023
1. Monumento al Soldado (Monument to the Soldier)
Monumento al Soldado
Inaugurado 12-8-1986
Erected 1986.
Topics. This memorial is listed in this topic list: Wars, Non-US.
Location. 42° 25.789′ N, 8° 38.98′ W. Memorial is in Pontevedra, Galicia. It is on Avenida Raíña Vitoria Uxía, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: Pontevedra, Galicia 36001, Spain. Touch for directions.
Regionally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, on the Atlantic Arc, in Europe, in the European Union, in Atlantic Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula, in the Schengen Area, in a coastal Mediterranean country, and in the Western World. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Byzantine Empire, a Spanish colony, and the Roman Empire.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Spanish Coup of 1936 Victims Memorial (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); I Congreso Do Doreito Galego / First Congess of Galician Law (about 90 meters away); Ruins of Santo Domingo Church (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Arturo Souto (approx.
this page online
More about this memorial. The monument sits at the west end of the alameda.
Also see . . .
1. ¿«Os tempos son chegados» para la cruz de la Alameda? (Voz de Galicia, Nov. 25, 2016). A Spanish-language article noting that the memorial started as a simple cross put up by the Nationalist government shortly after the civil war, and then modified in 1986 during the construction of a parking structure by adding sculpture and text, thus (subtly?) changing it to a memorial for the unknown soldier, or as was put in the article, “cross-tuning”.
Excerpts (in translation): No less than 75 years have passed since the Pontevedra City Council gave the Traditionalist Spanish Falange and the JONS a piece of land at the end of the current Montero Ríos avenue. As reflected in a municipal document dated 1941, the destination of said plot was the(Submitted on January 21, 2024.)construction of a monument "that perpetuates the memory of the heroes who succumbed in defense of the holy ideals of Religion and Homeland in the heroic deed of our liberation." The result was the construction of a large cross, in the style of others that were erected at the same time throughout Spain.Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, September 9, 20232. Monumento al Soldado (Monument to the Soldier) - wide view
The municipal group of Marea Pontevedra has now recovered that document and others related to the history of the cross, to demand that the Council remove the monument, 41 years after Franco's death and when seventeen have passed since the BNG agreed to the town hall.
Marea recalls that according to the chronicles of 1941, at the inauguration of the monument the Provincial Head of the Movement addressed a "cordial greeting to the representatives of the Italian Fascio and the German Nazi Party, belonging to movements that aspire, like us, to a social justice".
Later, in the 80s, when the underground parking lot was built and the cross had to be temporarily removed, voices arose urging its permanent removal. But there were also those, perhaps higher, that demanded his permanence. The municipal corporation chose to maintain the cross,completing it with a sculptural group to convert the tribute to the fallen into a "monument to the unknown soldier." What was done then was, according to Marea's spokesperson, Luís Rei, "cross-tuning."Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, September 9, 20233. Monumento al Soldado (Monument to the Soldier) - wider view
2. ¿Y tú qué harías con la Cruz…? (Cadena SER, April 24, 2023, in Spanish). Full title: ¿Y tú qué harías con la Cruz del Monumento al Soldado desconocido de Montero Ríos? (“And what would you do with the Cross of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier of Montero Ríos?”)
Excerpt: Podemos demands that the local government of Pontevedra remove the Falangist cross located on Montero Ríos Avenue to comply with the Memory Law(Submitted on January 21, 2024.)
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, September 9, 2023
4. Closeup of sculpture on monument
The sculptures on the monument are by the noted Galician artist, Alfonso Vilar.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 16, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 21, 2024, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 465 times since then and 69 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 21, 2024, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
