Los Maños: The Lads from Aragon

Mariano Aguayo Morán (1922-1994) was one of the members of the ‘Los Maños’ group. This group of friends from Zaragoza joined together to fight the Francoist regime in the optimistic days after the second world war. Originally active with the Socialist Youth, they soon joined the anarchist resistance alongside militants like Francisco ‘Quico’ Sabaté and José Lluís Facerías. Betrayed by one of the group members, Wenceslao Jiménez Orive was seriously wounded in a police ambush in Barcelona on 9 January 1950. Rather than be captured, he took cyanide. Simón Gracia Fleringán, Plácido Ortiz Gratal and Victoriano Muñoz Treserras were arrested the same day, and executed on 24 December 1950. These interviews throw light not only on the story of the ‘Los Maños’ group, but the nature, motivations and difficulties of the anarchist resistance to Francoism.