A Baptism in Spain, 1934, on the eve of the Spanish Civil War

This photograph was taken in the tiny town of Orbaiceta, Navarra in Spain.  Orbaiceta is the last town in the Spanish Pyrenees before the French border.  This photograph was taken next to the last house, on the last street before the French border.

My mother-in-law, the tiny baby in this photo, was baptized in Orbaiceta in 1934.  Her father and uncle, both pictured here, were both born in La Bouza, Salamanca on the border of Portugal. They were married to two sisters from the neighboring town of Villar de Ciervo, also on the Portuguese border.  The brothers were serving in the "carabineros".  According to Wikipedia "The Carabineros was an armed carabiniers force of Spain whose mission was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country operating against fraud and smuggling.  It was established in 1829 and it lasted until 1940 when it was summarily disbanded and merged with the Guardia Civil."

Both brothers here both joined the Guardia Civil after the Civil War.  The war didn't start until 1936, so this photo was taken just before the war started with a military coup.

The little boy in the photo is my mother-in-law's cousin.  You can see a photo of the two little cousins, just a few years later, after the war had started HERE. 

You can see a photo of my mother-in-law's father in his Guardia Civil uniform HERE.

------------------------------

Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Baptism in Spain, 1934, on the eve of the Spanish Civil War", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 18, 2016, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-baptism-in-spain-1934-on-eve-of.html: accessed [access date]).