The socialist mayor of Láncara conveys the feelings of local residents: “Martí was one of the organizers of the war of independence, in which nearly 50,000 Spanish soldiers died”
14ymedio, Madrid, August 17, 2026 / The mayor of Láncara, in the Galician province of Lugo, has asked Cuban consul Ingrid Izquierdo to remove the bust of José Martí installed next to the house where Ángel Castro – Fidel Castro’s father – was born, which was unveiled last Thursday to mark the centenary of the birth of the leader of the Cuban Revolution.
In a letter published Saturday on his social media, the mayor, socialist Darío Piñeiro, conveys to the representative of the island in the Cantabrian region “the deep unease and indignation” of local residents toward the newly unveiled statue.
According to his letter, the monument is perceived by the public “not as a diplomatic symbol, but as a direct insult to ordinary people, reviving tensions, divisions, and a climate of confrontation that harks back to dark times such as the Cuban war.” For this reason, he calls for its “immediate removal.”
“No symbol in our municipality should be a source of discord, provocation, or offense to the local population, regardless of whether it stands within the boundaries of private property,” the mayor states. He continues: “The community has made clear its demand that this space be free of an element that generates hostility and widespread rejection. Our city’s public or private space cannot become a stage for grievance or a reminder of old wars that wound the sensibilities of our people.”
“I find it regrettable that around 300 people are celebrating the centenary of Fidel Castro’s birth while the Cuban people are starving”
Piñeiro warns in the letter that “should a satisfactory response or the removal of the piece not be obtained, the Town Council will proceed, as a corresponding measure, to the immediate removal of the monument of similar characteristics located on municipal public land,” referring to another statue of Martí located in the village of A Pobra de San Xiao, which belongs to the same municipality of Láncara.
In the same post where he made his letter public, the mayor adds a comment in quotation marks – without clarifying whether it is his own opinion or that of a fellow citizen – which reads: “I find it regrettable that around 300 people are celebrating the centenary of Fidel Castro’s birth while the Cuban people are starving. I sincerely believe they lack sensitivity and dignity.”
The same text goes on to say that “José Martí was one of the organizers of the war of independence between Cuba and Spain, in which nearly 50,000 Spanish soldiers died, among them many Galicians and residents of Láncara. I do not find it acceptable that the families of those soldiers have to see a bust of the executioner of their relatives on a daily basis.” Fidel Castro’s own father took part in that war after enlisting in the Spanish Army.
“Martí was the intellectual author of Moncada, as Fidel himself stated, and remains the ethical and political wellspring of the Cuban Revolution”
And he ends with a third point: “I ask that you be consistent with your ideals: I cannot understand how someone who identifies as a communist and opposes private property in his own country can own property in Spain, which he could well have donated to the Town Council or to the Val de Láncara cultural association. It is contradictory to be a communist in Cuba and a capitalist in Spain, all the more so given that the transfer or sale of the house was made to a group of businessmen. Do they merely claim to be communists, or are they only communists when it suits or benefits them?”
Piñeiro himself confirmed to the local press that he will send the letter to the Cuban Consulate for Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria, headquartered in Santiago de Compostela, this Tuesday, since Monday is a local holiday.
The bust next to Ángel Castro’s house is a donation from the Láncara-Cuba Friendship Association, and was indeed unveiled on August 13 in a massive event led by the association’s president, Antonio Sobrado; the island’s ambassador to Spain, Marcelino Medina; and consul Izquierdo. The authorities of the Láncara Town Council, governed by the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, did not attend, however.
“Martí was the intellectual author of Moncada, as Fidel himself stated, and remains the ethical and political wellspring of the Cuban Revolution. To honor Martí and Fidel today is to reaffirm the continuity of a deeply humanist, pro-independence, and Latin Americanist line of thought, one that continues to inspire those who believe in a more just world,” were the words of Ambassador Medina when the statue was unveiled.
“Cuba’s government must reassess its strategy for becoming part of world trade and open the doors that would allow it to do so”
Castroite media covered the event in detail, with extensive criticism of the United States’ “genocidal blockade” of the island and songs by Silvio Rodríguez. At the same event, the Friendship Medal of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (Icap) was awarded to Ángel García Seoane, mayor of Oleiros (A Coruña) for the past 23 years on behalf of the independent party Alternativa dos Veciños.
García Seoane heaped praise on Fidel Castro and closed his speech with a “Homeland or death, we shall overcome,” but he also said that “Cuba cannot keep bleeding out through the departure of its youth” and that “the course must be changed while preserving the values of the revolution.” In a statement carried by El Español, he asserted: “Cuba’s government must reassess its strategy for becoming part of world trade and open the doors that would allow it to do so.”
The house where Ángel Castro was born, now converted into the Center for the Interpretation of Galician Emigration, was the “epicenter” of tributes in Spain to Fidel Castro for his centenary. Unveiled by Mariela Castro, daughter of Raúl Castro, on July 28, 2022, the building was visited by the leader of the Cuban Revolution in 1992, accompanied on that occasion by then-president of Galicia Manuel Fraga, a former Francoist minister.
Translated by GH
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