Torrevieja hosted an anti war rally on Sunday afternoon when around two thousand people filled the Plaza de la Constitución to express their outrage at Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. The rally was arranged by the Association of Ukrainians of Torrevieja with around 3000 Ukrainian citizens living permanently in the town. Banners were held aloft reading ‘The Russian army kills our children’, ‘Stop war’ and ‘We want peace for Ukraine’.
Earlier in the week, the Mayor of Torrevieja Eduardo Dolón and Councillor for International Residents Gitte Lund Thomsen met with representatives of both the Ukrainian and Russian communities in the town. The Mayor expressed his support for and solidarity with the Ukrainian people here. Meeting with the president of the Ukrainian Association, Natalia Zhezhnyauska, the Mayor said that the town hall will be made available ‘for any need you have’. Zhezhnyauska expressed her concerns about the devastating situation unfolding in her home country.
It is expected that over the next few days thousands of exiled Ukrainians will arrive in Spain and their permits to stay in Spain will need to be processed. With this in mind, Torrevieja City Council contacted the National Police Corps to ask that they “expedite the procedures of these people”. In addition, the town hall is going to provide food and medicine to the Ukrainian association for its transport to the Ukraine, as Natalia Zhezhnyauska had requested.
The Mayor and the Councillor for International Residents also met with the representatives of the two Russian associations of Torrevieja, Tatiana Semenova (GLOBUS) and Sergei Mogilenskii and Peter Andreusevich (MIR ODIN), who also expressed their concern about the current situation. They all shared the same sentiment, saying that they hope that “as soon as possible the end of this unreason, as well as full support and solidarity for the Ukrainian people and, especially, for all those resident of this country who live in peace and harmony with them in our city.”
There were obvious signs of emotion at Sunday’s rally, with many people in tears as they held aloft the Ukranian flag and banners bearing anti war slogans.
Natalia Zhezhnyavska, read a statement in which she asked for the end of the war in the Ukrainian territory. The mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón, also spoke, expressing the solidarity of the town hall with the Ukrainian community. Meanwhile, local priest Fr Pedro Payá made an appeal for peace and led the crowd in a prayer as everyone recited the Our Father together in Spanish.
There was a discreet Guardia Civil presence at the rally, but the event – which lasted from around twelve noon until after half past one – passed off peacefully. Other local mayors were also in attendance to express their support for the Ukraine.
The banners held by those attending the rally were in a variety of languages, Ukrainian, Spanish and mostly English. While most the banners called for peace, others bore messages directly aimed at Vladimir Putin with his image made to look like that of Hitler and slogans such as “Aggressor, invader and liar.”
Other banners called for international aid, with slogans such as: “Don’t leave us alone”; “Disconnect Russia from the SWIFT system”, the platform that connects banking entities around the world and allows international transactions; or “Let’s close the airspace.”
It is important to note the large amount of Russian residents also participating in the rally, expressing their stance against the invasion of Ukraine.