A documentary highlights the figure of Antonio Ortega, a Republican colonel who presided over Real Madrid from 1937 to 1939 and was executed by Franco's regime. His great-granddaughter demands his inclusion in the official list of club presidents.
Real Madrid has a ghost president. Between 1937 and 1939, during the height of the Civil War, the club was led by Antonio Ortega, a Republican military officer who today does not appear on the official list of the entity. A documentary, titled Ortega, now rescues his story and denounces his erasure.
Ortega's great-granddaughter, Gabriela Echeverría, a human rights lawyer, claims that the absence of her great-grandfather reflects the lack of democratic memory in Spain. "They wanted to wipe the slate clean, and that caused Antonio Ortega to disappear from history," she states in the documentary.
A handpicked president in wartime
Ortega was appointed president by the Cultural and Sports Federation, an institution of Republican Spain, in an exceptional context. Professor Ángel Bahamonde, an expert in the club's history, acknowledges that the appointment was "handpicked," but recalls that other presidents were also appointed in this way and are included on the list. "Between 1937 and 1939, there were no official competitions, but that does not explain his exclusion," he points out.
Historian Juan Carlos Illán, the documentary's author, argues that if the Republicans had won the war, Ortega would be recognised as one of Real Madrid's presidents. "It is a historical debt that the club should settle," he believes.
Executed after a summary trial
Ortega was not only erased from the club's history: he was also physically eliminated. He was executed in the early hours of July 15, 1939, after a summary trial lasting just five days. He was convicted of "adherence to the rebellion," a charge that Franco's dictatorship applied to those who had defended the legitimate government of the Republic.
Historian Juan Martínez from the Alicante Memory Centre explains that these trials were "a repression apparatus" that operated until 1944. "Franco ensured that political or military decisions during the conflict were considered blood crimes," he adds.
A loser among losers
Ortega not only lost the war: he also lost within the Republican side. He aligned himself with President Juan Negrín in the internal struggle against the coup led by Segismundo Casado, who sought a pact with Franco. "Ortega tried to mediate unsuccessfully and ended up betrayed by Casado," Bahamonde details.
His family managed to flee to Mexico, where his great-granddaughter Gabriela grew up, always seeing her great-grandfather's portrait presiding over her grandmother's living room, but no one spoke of him. "The wounds that are not cleaned do not heal," she says, having gathered documents and photographs to break the silence.
Hero of November 7
The documentary also recovers Ortega's military facet, considered one of the "heroes of November 7", the date when Republican troops halted the advance of the rebels towards Madrid. "They took on the famous 'they shall not pass'," recalls researcher David Jorge. Ortega, who had been civil governor in Guipúzcoa, put his experience at the service of defending the capital.
Today, however, almost no one remembers him in Madrid or the Basque Country. The documentary, which includes telegrams from French ambassador Jean Herbette rescued from the Nantes archive, aims to restore his place in history. "It is a matter of justice," concludes Illán.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid maintains its official list unchanged. Ortega's family hopes that the documentary will spark a debate that leads the club to recognise its Republican president. For now, silence remains the main character.
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