RECOLLECTIONS OF MALAGA IN THE CIVIL WAR

There have been hundreds of books written about the Spanish Civil War, a complicated and particularly destructive war that split a nation in two and killed thousands of Spanish citizens. Although the war lasted only three years, the ramifications and the killing continued much longer. Even today, there are open wounds that time has not healed.

This presentation focuses on one place – Málaga – and at a specific time, February 1937. This was known as the Battle of Málaga. Using first-hand accounts from the period and research conducted by Joan Fallon for her novel, ‘Spanish Lavender’.  Joan Fallon will talk about what happened and why the battle for Málaga was not so much a pitched battle but more a massacre. Experienced, well-trained, well-armed soldiers were pitted against an untrained and poorly armed militia and a civilian population. The outcome was inevitable.

The Civil War broke out on 17th July 1936 when a group of generals attempted a coup d’état against the democratically elected Republican government. Spain had had a checkered history of government changes over the years, moving from monarchy to republic and back again on a number of occasions.  So, an attempted coup was nothing new to the Spanish. However, this time, when the coup d’état failed, the generals, José Sanjurjo, Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco, declared war on the government.

Joan Fallon was born in Scotland and had always wanted to be a writer. Books are her passion and she grew up reading everything she could get her hands on. Although writing was always a major part of her work, both as teacher and later as management consultant and trainer, it was not until twelve years ago that she had the opportunity to devote herself full-time to being a novelist.

When she moved to Spain, she decided that the time had come to take her writing seriously. She enrolled in an Open University course in Creative Writing – obtaining her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in the early eighties.  She hasn’t stopped writing since and, to date, has written six historical novels, four contemporary novels and one book of non-fiction. Joan is a member of the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Joan lives on the Costa del Sol and, for more about her and her work, you can find more on www.joanfallon.co.uk,

Following the lecture, there will be an opportunity to purchase some of Joan’s novels.