The municipality of Inca has placed the fourth memorial stone on Sant Bartomeu street, 28, in memory of the barber and republican journalist executed in 1937.
Inca now has four stolpersteine. The latest, dedicated to Llorenç Beltran Salvà, known as 'es Barbó', was installed this Monday at number 28 on Sant Bartomeu street, right in front of the last home where he lived freely before being executed on July 19, 1937, at the city cemetery.
The event, called by the Inca City Council as part of democratic memory policies, gathered institutional representatives, memorial entities, family members, and locals. The Councillor for Democratic Memory, Alice Weber, was responsible for delivering the central speech.
A life of struggle and words
Weber wanted to emphasise Beltran's figure beyond his violent death. "Today we do not only remember his death. We remember, above all, his life," she stated.
"Llorenç Beltran was a man who wrote, who expressed his opinions, and who did not want to remain silent in the face of injustices, and precisely this freedom of thought made him a target of Francoist repression."
Beltran Salvà worked as a barber and collaborated as a journalist in local publications. His defence of republican values put him in the crosshairs of Francoist forces, who executed him without a prior trial. His story, like that of so many others, had been forgotten until the Stolpersteine project arrived in Inca.
Four stones that speak
With Beltran's stone, Inca now has four stolpersteine. The previous ones are dedicated to Antoni Mateu Ferrer (Jesus street), Pablo Ferrer Madariaga (former General Quarter Luque), and Gabriel Buades Pons (Ramon Llull street, 44). Each of them is a brass cobblestone embedded in the pavement, with the name, date of birth, and execution place of the victim.
The Stolpersteine project, initiated by German artist Gunter Demnig, is present in over 2,000 locations across Europe. In Mallorca, Inca is one of the pioneering municipalities in its implementation, along with Palma and Manacor. The stones are placed in front of the last free residence of the repressed person, as a way to symbolically return their name to the street.
Memory to prevent repetition
The Inca City Council has reaffirmed its commitment to the recovery of democratic memory. "This stolperstein returns Llorenç to the streets of Inca, to the history of Inca, and to the shared memory of this town," concluded Weber.
For the residents of Sant Bartomeu street, the stone is a daily reminder of what happened. Miquel Àngel, a local resident, explained that "every time I see it, I think of the injustice that regime committed. These stones ensure that we never forget it again."
The initiative has been well received by local memorial entities, who hope that in the future more stones can be installed for other victims of Francoist repression in Inca. For now, the city already has four testimonies of its darkest history, but also of the will not to repeat it.
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