The first cross-border project on the remembrance of exiles and migration is already a reality. The Ministry of Justice, Rights and Memory of the Government of Catalonia presented the project Exiles 1936-1946, which involves six leading memorialist organisations in Catalonia and France: Memorial Democràtic, Memorial Museum of Exile of La Jonquera, Memorial del Camp de Ribesaltes, the Argelers de la Marenda Camp Memorial, Maternitat d’Elna and the French Department of Pyrénées-Orientales.

The project also includes the active participation of other associated entities, such as the Casa de la Generalitat in Perpignan or the Patronat Call of Girona.

It is a pioneering initiative in southern Europe, aimed at internationalising the collective memory of exiles and migrations, as well as promoting joint research, dissemination, and development activities in terms of democratic memory. “The purpose of the project is to establish a formal commitment to cooperation between the main institutions on both sides of the border, to address the memory of exile as a shared phenomenon in European history”, explained the minister Gemma Ubasart i González, from the Memorial del Camp de Ribesaltes, in Northern Catalonia.

Ubasart also highlighted “the international influence” that leading a project of this magnitude represents for Catalonia. “We not only reaffirm the historical commitment of the Generalitat to democratic memory, but we also consolidate Catalonia as one of the European benchmarks in promoting the right to truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition”.

The project is part of the fifth edition of the POCTEFA 2021-2027 programme, created to promote cooperation for sustainable development in the border territories of Spain, France, and Andorra. The budget to carry out all the scheduled actions has a provision of over one million euros, 65% of which is financed by the European Union.

To achieve the objectives, over the three years of the project’s duration, a series of pedagogical actions and specific programmes will be developed, which “will allow knowledge to be exchanged and foster synergies,” remarked Alfons Aragoneses, Director General of Democratic Memory. “It is essential that when a visitor explores sites such as the Memorial Museum of Exile or the Ribesaltes Camp, they can grasp the historical and memorial perspectives and understand that it all forms part of a broad and complex episode that transcends borders,” he added.

For this reason, some of the actions to be carried out include the harmonisation of signposting on both sides of the border; the creation of a memorial pass to encourage visits to the different areas; the organisation of travelling exhibitions and seminars; the exchange of experiences between researchers, educators and archival staff, and the creation of a common database to unify all the information available on the memory of exiles.