Monument to Lieutenant António Augusto de Seixas, Barrancos

The hilltop town of Barrancos is located at the eastern edge of the vast Alentejo province, in southern Portugal. The nearest town is Encinasola, in Spain. Not surprisingly, Barrancos, with its 3,200 inhabitants in 1936, was more directly affected by the Spanish Civil War than any other Portuguese locality. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War saw a considerable flow of refugees from Spain into Portugal in this region. First to cross the border were well-to-do Spanish, fearful of left-wing militias rooting out supporters of the military coup. But as Franco’s forces neared, and the militias were pushed back, the nature of the refugees changed: now it was those with reasons to fear the arrival of the rebellious army and the Falange who fled to Portugal.

The Portuguese government, led by dictator António de Oliveira Salazar – a supporter of the Spanish army’s rising – was hostile territory to this second wave of refugees. In many cases, those with known left-wing affiliations were returned to the new Spanish authorities, facing certain punishment. But in the environs of Barrancos, Salazar’s designs were thwarted. Overall control of the multi-agency force established to control the border fell to Lieutenant António Augusto de Seixas (1891-1958), of the Guarda Fiscal. His intervention was crucial for the survival of those who, in September of 1936, gathered at the border to the north of Barrancos. On 22 September 773 refugees crossed the river; they were held in a makeshift camp in the Coitadinha estate. Seixas allowed them to move more than 25 metres into Portuguese territory, thus protecting them from pursuing Spanish forces, and ensured that they were fed, with the help of the population of Barrancos. He also allowed a second, smaller group of refugees to gather in the nearby Russianas estate, unbeknownst to his superiors.

Seixas then secured the transport of both sets of refugees – 1020 in total – by truck to the village of Moura, where they were detained in the local bull ring, and then  by train to the capital. From there they eventually travelled by sea to Tarragona, in republican-held territory. The Spanish Ambassador at Lisbon, Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz, had succeeded in bringing the plight of republican refugees in Portugal to the world’s attention, and Salazar, under pressure, was forced to agree to this transfer of civilians and military detainees.

There were other cases of Portuguese officials at the border disobeying the spirit and the letter of the instructions received from Lisbon in order to provide aid to Spanish refugees. But none did so at a greater risk to his career than Seixas. To remember his actions and his example, Barrancos named a square after him, and commissioned a monument, erected in 2015. The plaque reads, “Because to recover memory is to give meaning to the future”.