El Toro Muslim cemetery (Castellón de la Plana)

The photograph shows the El Toro Muslim cemetery in the province of Castellón, one of the few from the Civil War that remain. There is one other in Barcia, in Asturias, where between 400 and 500 Moroccan soldiers who were killed in action near the town, are buried. Although it is completely abandoned now, when this cemetery was created, it contained carefully executed Islamic architectural and ritual elements. 

The El Toro cemetery is very different. There is no decoration, just some plain stone slabs, like some primitive tombs facing Mecca, the indicate the places of burial. Above the now missing small door, there was a forged iron sign that read “Moorish Cemetery”. All that remains is the word “cemetery”, a few humble masonry walls that recall the fortifications where the Morccans fought, the same angled iron rods, and some of the barbed wire that protected the trenches, as can be seen in the photo. 

The cemetery is a forgotten marker of the brutal battles that took place in this area of Castellón, near the Republican X.Y.Z. defensive line, in July 1938. The Under the command of General Asensio, who had commanded the Regulares in Melilla, the Moroccans were thrown into the fierce assaults on the Republican trenches that defended Peña Juliana and la Salada in the Sierra de El Toro. Many died there. Overall, it is estimated that some 60,000 Moroccans fought with the Francoists, of whom 18,000 did not return home.  

The first evidence of the Moroccans who died here comes from a circular that the Civil Governor of Castellón sent to the province’s mayors in March 1940 requesting information on Moroccan soldiers and civilians buried in their municipalities. The initiative came from the Inspector General for Moroccan Affairs who wanted to organize Muslim cemeteries to ensure that the dead would “be shown due respect”, although nothing came of it. The list that was generated included 201dead, although those who are buried in El Toro were not included.