3. TORROELLA

WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED BY WILL-POWER

Leaving Gerona, the highway, narrow and straight, bordered by trees, crosses between small villages of adobe houses, in each case crowded together around an old church, which is today deserted and useless. The automobile can go more slowly now and we may observe the countryside. We pass by the silhouettes, bent over the furrowed ground of the farms, of the men and women who are patiently working, and the sadness that characterizes the traditional peasant of the old style who, alone on “his” land, toils to extract the surplus product that must provide his sustenance. Compare the labor of these poor folk, so sad and so slow, with the enthusiasm, with the cheerfulness, with the vigor and the surge of optimism that sweeps over the peasants who collectively work the land, brothers in labor, together in the everyday struggle for survival.

Throughout these areas, in these little villages, they still think as they did before the Revolution concerning almost every aspect of social life. Little by little the light will be shed on the minds of their denizens; little by little stubborn Ampurdán, saturated with anxieties about progress, will cease to be influenced by these humble little villages, just as Torroella de Montgrí has freed itself of such influences.

We arrived in Torroella around dusk, and the town square, surrounded by the typical arcades, was partially obscured by shadows. Torroella has many large mansions of an aristocratic type; they belonged to proud magnates who lived in them during the summer seasons. All these homes have been confiscated and today perform the social function that their former owners could never have imagined.

We have spoken with the comrades, young people for the most part, enthusiastic and dynamic. Before the fascist uprising hardly anyone knew what the Confederation stood for. There were some comrades who sympathized with the ideals embodied by our organization, but without the direct influence of the latter this sympathy remained a mere vague feeling. Once the revolutionary movement began, the comrades of Torroella made the greatest efforts to bring the town onboard with the new circumstances. And they can be pleased with having achieved their goals.

The entire working class joined the CNT, and exercising all means that were compatible with the process of emancipatory action, this town, which has about five thousand six hundred inhabitants, can serve as a model for others which, having benefited from the presence of not a few militants for many years, were expected to achieve so much more than they did. With enough will-power praiseworthy goals can be achieved. This has been proven by these comrades in Torroella de Montgrí.

THE BRICKLAYERS COLLECTIVE

In order to speak with the comrades of the Construction Industry we had to go to their headquarters, which is located in the building that previously hosted the Banco de Palafrugell.

“One of the reforms implemented in our profession,” the comrades told us, “was the standardization of wages. By this means we eliminated the obnoxious difference between the wages of the unskilled laborer and the skilled laborer. With the exception of the apprentices, all the workers are now paid 55 pesetas a week, and we intend to introduce the family wage.”

The forty-hour workweek has been introduced, Saturday afternoons and Sundays being set aside for work on fortifications. Those who were previously contractors, currently work under the same conditions as the other workers.

Employing the requisite foresight, the collective, having calculated the expenditures on wages, devotes part of its surplus for payment of wages for those days when rain prevents the workers from performing their regular jobs.

In addition, these comrades also display solidarity, one of the greatest attributes of the human being. When a worker is ill he is paid his full wage, just like the others. We should also mention the regulation concerning those workers of the industry who, because of their advanced age, can no longer work. This regulation stipulates that they should receive the same wage as those who can still work.

We have parted from the comrades of the Construction Industry with a good impression concerning the work they have carried out and that they intend to realize.

THE BAKERS COLLECTIVE

The Bakers Collective is composed of twenty-three individuals. These people were the first in the town to understand the value of collectivized labor. They are so convinced of this that they work with the greatest enthusiasm, intensely, without any fixed working hours.

These comrades have four ovens; they are trying to save enough money to build two new ovens and to concentrate all bread distribution in one location.

Situated in the vanguard of emancipatory activities, they have established the family wage in the following form: for married couples, both the man and the woman are paid thirty pesetas a week. Each minor child of the age of sixteen years or younger is allocated one peseta more per week. If the family has a second producer, he or she is paid thirty pesetas, and if it has a third producer, this person is paid eighteen pesetas. As for the single person, without a family, the collective assigns him or her a wage of seven pesetas per day.

Once the weekly expenditure on wages is calculated, some one hundred fifty pesetas are set aside, which are saved for the repair of the ovens and for any materials that are needed.

The comrade bakers all work with the greatest enthusiasm, strengthening the bonds of comradery with the equitable pay based on the family wage, which should be implemented among the entire productive class of revolutionary Spain.

THE OTHER COLLECTIVES IN TORROELLA

The barbers, numbering about 24 or 25, have formed a collective. The barbers now all work together in a magnificent building renovated for their purposes. The building is very spacious, with as many conveniences as the customers could wish.

Public entertainment is also collectivized. Various events are held to raise money for the Militias, and five percent of the receipts are devoted to charity. The famous folk group “Els Montgrins” belongs to this Section; it has been performing for fifty years, and is so successful that it has made the Ampurdanese melodies of the typical sardanas [a type of Catalonian dance and music—Translator’s note] famous not just throughout Spain but also all over the world.

Transport and its associated trades are also collectivized, and wages have been standardized. These comrades have sent fourteen motorcycles and seven sedans to the front. For the transport of travelers in the everyday bus service with nearby towns, since the industry was collectivized it has acquired two magnificent busses.

The four tailoring shops have been consolidated into one shop, where some sixty men and women are employed. In order to receive their wages when there is not enough work, they have agreed to work two more hours on those days when there is work.

Among the peasants who live in the township, some are now working collectively. It is hoped that in a short time all of them will decide to work collectively, having noticed the advantages that accrue to those who work in common.

The dressmakers, who were previously divided among fifteen or twenty workshops now work together in one workshop, and these pleasant women enjoy the freedom that they did not posses before, happily laughing, singing and talking together.

THE MUNICIPALITY AND ITS ACTIVITIES

In Torroella de Montgrí the Municipality was structured, at the time of our visit, in the following manner: five representatives of the CNT, one from the FAI, one from the “rabassaires”, two from the POUM and two from the Esquerra.

The two palaces that once belonged to the Marqués de Robert have been confiscated. The impressive pastures that were once owned by the Marqués de Camps were also seized.

We must not overlook the labor of education; for this purpose several private homes have been renovated.

The Libertarian Youth and the Trade Union have two public libraries, enriched with the wealth of the books found in the mansions of the rich people of the area. These books, which represent a cultural treasure-trove, are now appropriated by the people, for all those who feel the noble desire for knowledge, unlike before, when they only served the purposes of luxury on the bookshelves of the libraries of the aristocrats, the property of men who were more interested in luxury and ostentation than in culture.

POPULAR SYMPATHY FOR THE CAUSE OF EMANCIPATION

The example of hard work set by the proletariat of Torroella can only arouse sympathy. “That is why,” a comrade tells us, “not only the workers, but also even the middle class, those people who always kept their distance from the proletariat, look with favor on our achievements.”

From the very first days of the military rebellion a good number of the sons of the town have been fighting on the fronts.

And understanding the need to be prepared against the barbarous enemy, the inhabitants of this pleasant little town spend their Sundays building fortifications and roads.

Furthermore, there are about forty refugees in Torroella, who are tended with the greatest solicitude, and who are happy to have found the hospitality of other homes to supply what the brutality of the fascists forced them to abandon.