Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu played CE Europa in a hotly contested Barcelona derby on Sunday, January 28. The UE Sant Andre ultras group, Desperdicis 07, produced a spectacular anti-fascist tifo display before the game. Described as the “anti-fascist ultras,” Desperdicis 07 used the tifo to honour revolutionary female fighters who fought against the fascist Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War that took place from 1936 to 1939.
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“At the forefront of the resistance”
Located behind the goal at UE Sant Andreu’s stadium, Camp Municipal Narcís Sala, the ultras displayed a message at the bottom of the stand, which read: “A L’Avantguarda de la Resistencia!”. This translates to “At the forefront of the resistance.”
Behind this message, the tifo was split into three sections across the stand with different revolutionary women during the Spanish Civil War shown.
Watch from 4:00 onwards in the video below to see the reveal of the tifo before the match.
Marina Ginestà – The Iconic Photograph
Depicted in the left section of the tifo is Marina Ginestà, who was a Spanish communist and reporter during the Spanish Civil War.
The tifo captures the iconic photograph of Ginestà on top of the Hotel Colon in Barcelona. Ginestà’s iconic photograph was taken by Juan Guzmán and has become symbolic of anti-fascist resistance. In the photograph, Ginestà is seen looking at the camera wearing an army uniform with a rifle on her back. It was taken during the July 1936 uprising in Barcelona.
Elisa García Sáez – Born in Sant Andreu
On the other side of the stand was the image of Elisa García Sáez, who was born in the Sant Andreu district. She was a feminist and militiawoman who fought for the Republican faction in the Spanish Civil War.
García Sáez died on the Aragon Front in 1936 fighting the fascist Nationalists, becoming one of the first militiawomen to die during the civil war.
ABC Madrid published a letter that she wrote to her mother 11 days after she died. The letter said: “[…] Don't feel sorry for me; I will see to it that nothing happens to me: but if something happened to me by chance, think that others like me would have fallen too. If I knew that by giving my life I could end the murders of the working class, I would gladly give it. If you were told that fighting is not for women, say that the performance of revolutionary duty belongs to every person who is not a coward. […]”
Feminist Militia Group
Finally, in the middle of the stand was the depiction of female members of an Anarcha-feminist militia group, holding rifles and smiling at the camera. In line with the Civil War was the beginning of the Spanish Social Revolution, which saw working-class groups spread their political ideologies of worker control and anarchism.
Catalonia was one of the main regions in Spain that participated in the social revolution and gained significant control over the social economy. Female leaders and militias played a key role in this movement, which is what the tifo looks to depict.
Game result and pre-match photographs
Sant Andreu’s players lined up in the centre circle prior to kick-off and had photographs taken of them with the tifo in the background.
The match ended in disappointment for the home side, though, as they lost 3-2 to their rivals. Javier Eslava’s 90th minute winner for CE Europa secured all three points for them to maintain the top spot in Group 3 of the Segunda Federación.