Court Recognizes Franco-Era Victim

The family of Alfonso Gaspar y Soler has received a judicial auto recognizing his status as a victim of the Francoist repression. The ruling was issued by the Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instrucción número 1 de Huesca. This legal action was initiated by the Fiscalía de Derechos Humanos y Memoria Democrática at the request of the victim's descendants.

The court document details that Gaspar y Soler was detained at the Military Hospital of Huesca following the July 18, 1936 coup. He was subsequently killed on August 23 of that year. The case highlights a historical paradox: Gaspar y Soler is cited in some sources as the military doctor who saved the life of Francisco Franco in 1916, only to be executed by Franco's forces twenty years later.

On June 29, 1916, a 23-year-old Spanish military officer was shot in the stomach at El Biutz, located approximately 10 kilometers from Ceuta. The wound was considered fatal, but a military doctor managed to save his life. The injured soldier was Francisco Franco, who would later become the dictator of Spain.

There is historical debate regarding the identity of the physician who performed the life-saving intervention. According to Julián Casanova, a professor of Contemporary History and author of a recent biography of the dictator, there is no consensus on the doctor's name. One of the candidates identified in historical sources is Alfonso Gaspar y Soler.

Twenty years after the events in the Rif War, the political landscape of Spain had changed drastically. Following the military uprising on July 18, 1936, a systematic repression of dissent was launched by the rebel faction. Alfonso Gaspar y Soler became a target of this repression due to his ideology and political activity.

The recent court auto establishes the specific details of his death. The document states: "Tras el golpe de Estado del 18 de julio de 1936, en el contexto de la represión de la disidencia desplegada por el bando sublevado y con motivo de su ideología y actividad política, el señor Gaspar y Soler fue detenido en el Hospital Militar de Huesca". The ruling further clarifies that on August 23, he was beaten to death at the wall of the cemetery.

The legal proceedings were advanced by the Fiscalía de Derechos Humanos y Memoria Democrática, which attended to the petition filed by the victim's family. The objective was to have justice officially establish the circumstances of his death as the murder of an innocent person.

The auto from the Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instrucción número 1 de Huesca has now been delivered to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Dr. Gaspar y Soler. This document serves as an official acknowledgment of the facts surrounding his execution during the early months of the Spanish Civil War.