So what do you do if you find yourself in Malaga for the afternoon with nothing specific to do? Head for the beach, I hear you cry. Well, guess what. I didn’t. But I did find a couple of memorials which, although unsurprisingly not WWI related, you might find of interest.
This memorial commemorates Comandante Julio Benitez Benitez, commander of the Spanish garrison defending Igueriben in Morocco in 1921 against the Rif Tribesman of Abd el-Krim. Benitez’ troops held out for several days against overwhelming odds before they were eventually overrun. Only a handful of Spanish survived the action, and Benitez was not among them, but he is remembered here for his heroic actions during the defence.
Igueriben.
Mother and kittens. Because they’re very cute.
“Those of Igueriben die, but never surrender”.
The magnificent Cathedral in Malaga…
…dare I say it, maybe slightly over the top to my eyes…
…has an interesting plaque on the wall near one of the entrances.
Now I was intending to show you the English Cemetery in Malaga (above & below)…
…but it’s closed on Mondays, and what day did I go?
So you’ll have to make do with the two lions (above & below) on either side of the gates.
Finally, this rather impressive monument remembers the 49 men who were summarily executed in Malaga in 1831 after General Torrijos’ aborted attempt to overthrow King Ferdinand VII of Spain.
The memorial was erected just eleven years later, in 1842.
You will notice the name of a certain Mr. Robert Boyd on the panel above. If you want to find out Boyd’s story then Google’s your starter for ten; suffice to say that in his final letter home he wrote, “Mark you that I die like a gentleman and a soldier – I am to be shot with sixty others in about an hour”.
Robert Boyd is not only remembered on the memorial. He is buried, by the way, in the English Cemetery. Yep, the one that was closed. Of course he is.