Wikipedia

Tefía Agricultural Penitentiary Colony

The Tefía Agricultural Penitentiary Colony (Spanish: Colonia Agrícola Penitenciaria de Tefia), was a concentration camp located in the village of Tefia, in the municipality of Puerto del Rosario on the Fuerteventura Island.[1][2] It was established in 1954 during the Francoist regime and served till 1966 as a detention center for prisoners, and for the re-education of male homosexuals.[3][4]

Tefía Agricultural Penitentiary Colony
Colonia Agrícola Penitenciaria de Tefia
Map
Interactive map of the Tefía Agricultural Penitentiary Colony area
General information
TypeConcentration camp
LocationPuerto del Rosario, Spain
Coordinates28°31′36″N 14°00′19″W / 28.52667°N 14.00528°W / 28.52667; -14.00528
Opened11 February 1954
Closed21 July 1966

Background

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During the regime of Francisco Franco, who served as the dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975, homosexuality was repressed and considered undesirable. In 1954, an amendment was made to the law of Vagos y maleantes (es), which allowed people to be persecuted for their sexual orientation.[5] It allowed an imprisonment of one to three years for homosexuals, who were considered a danger to the society.[6] As per the amended law, homosexual and transsexual people were confined to "labor centers" and "penitentiary agricultural colonies", which were forced labor concentration camps. They were often subjected to inhumane conditions at these camps, starved, beaten, and made to work until exhaustion.[7][8]

History

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The Tefia Agricultural Penitentiary Colony was established by governmental order passed on 15 January 1954, at the location of a former military barracks and airfield.[6][9] The facility was opened on 11 February 1954.[10] While it housed between 80 and 100 homosexuals, it was also used to house common and political prisoners.[11][12]

The colony was located on a barren site.[9] The inmates were subjected to hard labor ranging including agricultural and other work. They were commanded by the military, and were subjected to torture, hunger and sexual repression.[6][8] They were made to work until exhaustion and subjected to habitual mistreatment by the officials.[13][14]

On 21 July 1966, the colony was closed by an executive order of the Ministry of Justice, as the population of the inmates was deemed as low. The remaining inmates were transferred to the Barranco Seco prison in Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.[6][9][15]

Aftermath and legacy

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Commemorative milestones installed at the location

After the closure of the camp, it was converted to a youth hostel.[16]

In 2004, the Government of Canary Islands installed a plaque in memory of those who were held in Tefia to commemorate fifty years of its opening.[17] On 17 May 2008, on the International Day against Homophobia, the government established another commemorative milestone at the location.[6][18]

In 2006, the novel Viaje al centro de la infamia, written by historian Miguel Ángel Sosa Machín, was released. It is set in the mid-1950s and incorporates elements of the colony in Tefia.[19][20][21]

In 2018, director Ferran Navarro-Beltrán announced a film based on the history of the colony at Tefia.[22]

In 2019, Juan Sepulveda, Antonio Santos and Marina Cochet published the graphic novel, El Violeta, the plot of which is inspired by the testimonies of Octavio García, one of the survivors of the Tefia concentration camp.[23][24][25][26][27]

In 2020, Ismael Lozano Latorre published the novel, Vagos y Maleantes, in which one of its protagonists, an old man with Alzheimer's disease, recounts his youth at the Tefia concentration camp.[28]

In April 2023, Nando López published the novel, Los chosen, in which the Tefia concentration camp is one of the main themes in the plot set in the 1950s.[29][30][31]

In June 2023, The Nights of Tefia, a television drama based on the Tefia concentration camp, was released. [32]

References

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  1. ↑ Guillermo Portilla Contreras (2022). El infierno penal de los homosexuales durante el franquismo: la colonia agrícola penitenciaria de Tefía [The penal hell of homosexuals during Francoism: the Tefía agricultural penal colony] (in Spanish). ISBN 978-8-41311-662-4. OCLC 1342598504.
  2. ↑ Carlos Hernández (2019). Los campos de concentración de Franco [Franco’s concentration camps] (in Spanish). ISBN 978-8-46666-545-2. OCLC 1090060412.
  3. ↑ Carlos Hernández de Miguel (2021). Los 40 campos de concentración que Franco creó en Castilla-La Mancha [The 40 concentration camps that Franco created in Castilla-La Mancha] (in Spanish). pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-84-9044-500-6.
  4. ↑ Arturo Arnalte (2003). Redada de violetas: la represión de los homosexuales durante el franquismo [Raid on violets: the repression of homosexuals during Francoism] (in Spanish). ISBN 978-8-49734-150-9.
  5. ↑ "BOE No. 198, 17 July 1954". Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). 17 July 1954. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Eduardo Robaina (2 November 2018). "Un campo de concentración para aislar a los gays del turismo" [A concentration camp to isolate gays from tourism]. La Marea (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  7. ↑ Amnesty International. "España: poner fin al silencio y a la injusticia" [Spain: End silence and injustice] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  8. 1 2 Arturo Arnalte (23 November 2003). "Cuando el vicio se quitaba con hambre y palos" [When vice was beaten out with hunger and sticks]. El Mundo. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Víctor M. Ramírez (17 May 2016). "Los homosexuales durante el franquismo: vagos, maleantes y peligrosos" [Homosexuals during Francoism: vagrants, criminals and dangerous people]. El diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  10. ↑ G. Maestre (18 May 2008). "The Auschwitz of Fuerteventura" [El Auschwitz de Fuerteventura] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "Los homosexuales durante el franquismo en Tefía salta al cómic" [The repression of homosexuals during Francoism in Tefía becomes a comic]. Diario de Fuerteventura (in Spanish). 16 December 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  12. ↑ Arturo Arnalte (23 November 2003). "Cuando el vicio se quitaba con hambre y palos" [When vice was corrected with hunger and beatings]. El mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  13. ↑ Felipe Gómez Isa (ed.). El derecho a la memoria (in Spanish). p. 483.
  14. ↑ "An inmate from the Tefía concentration camp, the Auschwitz for homosexuals in Spain: They kept us all day doing gymnastics and singing the Cara al Sol" [Un expreso del campo concentración de Tefía, el Auschwitz para homosexuales de España: Nos tenían todo el día haciendo gimnasia y cantando el Cara al Sol] (video). LaSexta (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  15. ↑ Belén Remacha (11 March 2019). "Franco created 300 concentration camps in Spain, 50% more than previously calculated" [Franco creó 300 campos de concentración en España, un 50% más de lo calculado hasta ahora]. El Diario (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "From concentration camp to youth hostel" [De campo de concentración a albergue juvenil]. RTVC (in Spanish). 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  17. ↑ "La tolerancia se adueña de Tefia" [Tolerance takes hold of Tefía]. Noticias Fuerteventura (in Spanish). 19 May 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  18. ↑ "La represión de los homosexuales durante el franquismo en Tefía salta al cómic" [The repression of homosexuals during Francoism in Tefía becomes a comic]. Diario de Fuerteventura (in Spanish). 16 December 2018. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  19. ↑ Sosa Machín, Miguel Ángel (1 January 2010). Viaje al centro de la infamia [Journey to the Center of Infamy] (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Anroart. ISBN 978-8-49262-881-0. OCLC 868810883. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  20. ↑ Vera, Eloy (16 February 2018). "La huella del franquismo se resiste a abandonar el callejero de Fuerteventura" [The footprint of Francoism resists leaving the street map of Fuerteventura]. eldiario.es (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  21. ↑ Castanedo, Fernando (26 August 2006). "Tefía, en la memoria" [Tefía, in memory]. El País (in Spanish). p. 6. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  22. ↑ "La visibilització de l'homosexualitat a la tercera edat" [The visibility of homosexuality in old age]. Ara.cat (in Catalan). 11 October 2018. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  23. ↑ Sepúlveda Sanchis, Juan; Santos Mercero (January 2019). El violeta [The Violet] (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). ISBN 978-84-949237-3-9. OCLC 1130060987. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  24. ↑ Marco, Lucas (28 June 2019). "'El violeta', la historia en cómic de la represión franquista contra el colectivo LGTBI en Valencia" ['The Violet', the comic story of Francoist repression against the LGTBI collective in Valencia]. El Diario (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  25. ↑ Jiménez, Jesús (11 October 2018). "'El Violeta', cuando los homosexuales eran encerrados en campos de detención" ['The Violet', when homosexuals were sent to detention camps]. RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  26. ↑ Serrato, Fran (20 December 2018). "El cómic que muestra la represión a los homosexuales durante el franquismo" [The comic that shows the repression of homosexuals during Francoism]. El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  27. ↑ "El infierno de ser gay durante el franquismo: muerte, soledad y campos de concentración" [The hell of being gay during Francoism: death, loneliness and concentration camps]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 4 November 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  28. ↑ Lozano Latorre, Ismael (1 January 2020). Vagos y maleantes [Vagrants and Thieves] (in Spanish). ISBN 978-8-41212-286-2. OCLC 1155049033. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  29. ↑ La aventura del saber (8 June 2023). "Nando López. Los elegidos" [Nando López. The Chosen Ones] (video). RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  30. ↑ Onda Cero Radio (12 May 2023). "Los Elegidos. Novela de Nando López sobre la identidad sexual en la época del franquismo" [The Chosen Ones. Novel by Nando López about sexual identity in the Franco era]. Ondacero.es (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  31. ↑ "Nando López, bibliotecas y dictadura en 'Los elegidos'" [Nando López, libraries and dictatorship in 'The Chosen Ones']. RTVE.es (in Spanish). 26 April 2023. Archived from the original on 7 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  32. ↑ Cámara, Nora (25 June 2023). "'Las noches de Tefía': dónde ver la serie española que Patrick Criado presentó en 'El Hormiguero'" ['The Nights of Tefía': where to watch the Spanish series presented by Patrick Criado on 'El Hormiguero']. Diez Minutos (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
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