Benifallet on Saturday remembered the stories of Antonio Povill, Tomàs Salaet, Joaquín Cid, and Francisco Margalef, residents of the Baix Ebre municipality who were deported to Nazi concentration camps. The placement of commemorative 'Stolpersteine' stones marked an emotional event attended by family members.

The stones, meaning 'stumbling stone' in German, are an initiative by artist Gunter Demnig to commemorate victims of the Nazi regime. In Benifallet's case, stones honor Joaquín Cid (deported to Aurigny) and Antonio Povill, Tomàs Salaet, and Francisco Margalef (deported to Mauthausen). All were liberated, except Margalef, who was murdered in Gusen in July 1942.

The ceremony highlighted the defense of democratic values that these victims represented. The Minister of Justice and Democratic Memory, Ramon Espadaler, stressed the need to explain these historical episodes to younger generations to prevent their recurrence. 'The priority audience is the younger generations,' he stated.

This initiative culminates a four-year research project, part of democratic memory events, which led to the publication of a book. The mayor of Benifallet, Mercè Pedret, advocated for the importance of democratic memory in the face of rising fascism.

Catalonia currently has 762 'Stolpersteine' stones installed in 126 municipalities, a figure the government plans to increase to 872 this year. This project is recognized as the most extensive decentralized memory initiative globally, with over 117,500 stones spread across 31 European countries.