Manuel Floreal Menárguez, the first Mayor of Los Alcázares

The man who led Los Alcázares to municipal independence was driven by the execution of his father in the Civil War

Manuel Floreal Menárguez was the first Mayor of Los Alcázares when it achieved its municipal independence in 1983, and is fondly remembered even after his death at the age of 86 in 2022, with the large square behind the Town Hall having been named after him. He remained Mayor for 6 years before leaving the post in 1989.

Not afraid to try his hand at parachute jumping or to lead revolts by the locals who were no longer prepared to be governed by the Town Halls of San Javier and Torre Pacheco, he was sometimes belligerent but always seeking to advance the cause of democracy, perhaps fuelled by the anger at the execution of his father in the last days of the Spanish Civil War in 1939.

His father had died after being taken into custody at the Iglesia del Carmen, where he was hoping to meet furtively with his wife Joaquina, and, having been a Republican Mayor of Los Alcázares, was locked away in Santiago de la Ribera. It is alleged that he was tortured before being executed by firing squad at the prison in Murcia.

But Manuel’s father left behind a letter for his two sons, buried in a bottle under the patio of the family home, in which he begged his children not to hold grudges after the end of the conflict. They partly disobeyed, researching the death of their father, but no justice was ever meted out following the amnesty which was granted to those who had committed violence in the name of Franco in 1977.

In Los Alcázares, though, he is chiefly remembered as the leader of the “Spirit of 83” movement and as the champion of the cause in the regional government of Murcia. It was under his leadership that the structure of the municipality was created from nothing, and he continued to be active in local politics to the extent that he publicly supported the current Mayor, Mario Pérez Cervera, whom he described as “a tireless fighter and enemy of injustice”.