Memorial Monumento en honor a los abogados de Atocha in Madrid

You're standing on Calle de Atocha in the centre of Madrid, outside number 55. Take a look at the front door. In January 1977 this was a legal advice office for workers, run by the Communist Party. Franco had died just over a year before, and Spain's young democracy was fragile. On the evening of 24 January, around half past ten, three men rang this doorbell. They were after Joaquín Navarro, leader of the Comisiones Obreras union, who was running a transport strike. But Navarro had just left. Two of the men went in with loaded guns while the third kept watch at the door. They shot one staff member first. Then they lined the other eight up against a wall and opened fire. Five people died: three labour lawyers, a law student and an office assistant. Four survived with serious wounds. Dolores González Ruiz was pregnant and lost her baby. Manuela Carmena, who later became mayor of Madrid, had been in the office earlier that evening but was called away.