The book “A Las Barricadas”, the result of eight years of investigation by journalist Maria José Oliveira, was released in Folio. The work retrieves stories of Portuguese people who fought in the civil war and were victims of Francoist repression.
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11/10/2026
by
Lusa
O book “A Las Barricadas: os portuguêss na Guerra Civil de Espanha”, result of eight years of investigation of journalist Maria José Oliveira, was released today at Folio – International Literary Festival of Literature of Óbidos.
The work, edited by Ink of China, was adapted from a master's thesis by journalist and researcher Maria José Oliveira, who in the book retrieves stories of the Portuguese who fought in the civil war of Spain and who were victims of Francoist repression.
“ They are people who lived 90 years ago and who practically did not leave any kind of documentary footprint because they were undocumented, illegal immigrants, who had gone to Spain to jump”, he told in the presentation of the work that resulted from a lengthy collection of data about Portuguese people who “had no passport, had no identity card, had no death record, died and left no documentary trail at all”.
A process that “requires a lot of patience and perseverance”, quality that the author admitted were fundamental to the archival research carried out in Portugal, Spain and France and for which she had a PhD scholarship from the Foundation for Science and Technology.
The transnational investigation, which lasted for eight years, resulted in the stories of men and women born in Portugal who participated or were victims of the Spanish Civil War and Francoist repression, having been identified “about 4,000”, which the author thinks are “about half or a third” of the total Portuguese who lived this reality.
A topic on which Maria José Oliveira said today there is “still much to discover”, expressing strangeness that she has not been studied by Spanish researchers until now.
In the work, launched today in Óbidos, in the district of Leiria, the author considered “essential to give the names, both of the victims and of the executioners”, admitting the “eventuality of people who will discover with this book their families and also their own identity”.
On the other hand, it was also a question of leaving “a recognition” to these people, “common citizens, but who have taken their place” in recent history.
The 400-page work is for sale in platforms and bookstores throughout the country.
The Folio – International Literary Festival of Óbidos takes place in the village until the next day 18, with the participation of 450 authors and creators in about 300 initiatives.