Madrid’s Plaque To The Plague
The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, as well as the Deputy Mayor, Begoña Villacís, yesterday attended an unveiling to the victims of the Covid 19 pandemic in the Madrid region.
According to the Madrid regional health authority there have been 277, 000 recorded cases including nearly 10,000 fatalities since the start of the pandemic in March of this year.
The ceremony was held at the Real Casa de Correos in the Puerta del Sol and was attended by other municipal figures and regional politicians including the president of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
However there were no representatives from the opposition PSOE party who claimed they had not been invited.
The ceremony included a minute’s silence as well as a musical accompaniment by the orchestra of the Communidad de Madrid.
In his speech the mayor made particular mention to the 57 people who had died alone and whose bodies have yet to be claimed by their families or loved ones.
He also laid out a message of hope that the efforts and sacrifices made by the inhabitants of Madrid will not be in vain and that Spain will soon begin the process of recovery.
The eighteenth century building which houses the office of the President of the Community of Madrid is also one of Madrid’s iconic landmarks and whose clock tower chimes the beginning of the New Year also has two other plaques to commemoatre Madrid’s darker days including to the victims of the Atocha bombing in 2004 by Islamic terrorists and the dead of the 1808 uprising against the French garrison during the Napoloeonic wars.
Earlier this year Madrid also unveiled an eternal flame monument to the victims of Covid which is situated near the Cibeles fountain.