The May 2nd route in Madrid

* The author is part of the La Vanguardia reader community

I share in La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos these photographs taken in different locations in Madrid of the monuments, plaques, and cemetery where 43 of the many Spaniards who rose up against the French invaders on May 2, 1808, rest, even though they knew their means were significantly inferior and their lives were at stake.

These images, regardless of political ideology, are in memory of all of them. May they rest in peace and glory.

1. Mural of the shootings

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A 300-square-meter mural depicting the executions of May 3, 1808, by urban artist Javier Lobo (MIek) in permanent homage to Goya.

It is located on Mozart Street, very close to the hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida, where the brilliant artist is buried, as well as to the place where the executions of the 43 heroes who rest in the adjacent Florida cemetery took place on Príncipe Pío Mountain (where the Debod temple is located today).

2. Florida Cemetery

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Florida Cemetery, dating from 1796, located within the Parque del Oeste, is the final resting place of 43 of the Madrid residents executed on May 3, 1808, on Príncipe Pío Mountain. Open to the public only on May 2.

3. Concrete monoliths

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Concrete monoliths, created in 1996, next to the Florida cemetery, that form the word GOYA.

4. Obelisk of May 2

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Obelisk of May 2, erected in honor of the heroes of May 2, 1808 and completed in 1840 after various vicissitudes that delayed it due to absolutism and Ferdinand VII.

It stands on the spot where, on General Murat's orders, many of those who rebelled against the invasion were shot. With the arrival of democracy, it was decided that the monument would honor all those who fell for Spain at any time.

5. Monument to the people of May 2, 1808

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Monument to the people of May 2, 1808, a work by the Segovian sculptor Aniceto Marinas, near the Plaza de España, made in 1891 and inaugurated in 1908.

6. Monument to Infantry Lieutenant Jacinto Ruiz

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Monument to Infantry Lieutenant Jacinto Ruiz, located in Plaza del Rey, a work by Mariano Benlliure inaugurated in 1891.

7. Plaque to the popular heroes of May 2, 1808

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Plaque commemorating the popular heroes of May 2, 1808, located in the Royal Post Office, the current headquarters of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid.

8. Plaque in front of the façade of the Royal Palace

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Plaque in front of the façade of the Royal Palace to the popular heroes of May 2, 1808, who began on that very spot "the protest and sacrifice against foreign troops."

9. Sculptures of Captains Daoíz and Velarde

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Sculptures of Captains Daoíz and Velarde in the Plaza del 2 de Mayo, carved by the Catalan artist Antoni Solá i Llansas, from 1830.

10. Plaque in the Plaza del 2 de Mayo

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Plaque in the Plaza del 2 de Mayo in tribute to the popular heroes who fought there "aiding the soldiers of the immortals Daoíz and Velarde"

11. Plaque in memory of Manuela Malasaña

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Plaque on San Andrés Street, in memory of Manuela Malasaña, “who was shot at the age of fifteen on May 2, 1808, next to the Monteleón artillery park.”

12. Plaque in honor of Benita Pastrana

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Plaque, also on San Andrés Street, very close to the previous one, which pays tribute to Benita Pastrana, who fought on May 2, 1808, defending Lieutenant Ruiz's cannon until she was mortally wounded.

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