Railways, Sand Roads: The Spaniards of the Trans-Saharan

The exhibition "Railways, Sand Roads: The Spaniards of the Trans-Saharan" tells the story of the republicans who embarked on the SS "Stanbrook" at the port of Alicante and were sent to labor camps shortly after arriving in Algeria. In 1940, after Hitler's invasion of France, the collaborationist French authorities mobilized Spanish refugees in their Algerian and Moroccan colonies to build, almost under slavery-like conditions, the trans-Saharan railway. This quixotic project aimed to connect the Francophone sub-Saharan territories with the Mediterranean colonies by crossing the desert from north to south.

The Trans-Saharan railway was strategically important for the French because it would supply raw materials, especially coal, to the metropolis, avoiding the risk of transports being intercepted in the Atlantic by British aviation and navy. It was a story of sweat, blood, and death in 50-degree Celsius heat, with scarce food and almost no water. However, the construction was never completed.

In 1942, after the liberation of North Africa, many of these men joined the Allied forces. And in 1944, when the Ninth Company of the Second Armored Division of the Free French Army, known as "La Nueve," liberated Paris from the Nazi yoke, they raised the republican flag once again.

The photographic exhibition "Le Transsaharien" is part of a collection of books, articles, and documentaries that pay tribute to those who were defeated in the Spanish Civil War. Many of them were involuntary heroes who suffered and maintained their hope during these unexplored exiles. The project consists of a collection of images that recreate the labor camps on the Algerian-Moroccan border and other significant locations. In this way, it seeks to offer a visual tribute to the memory of these men and women, allowing viewers to see and feel as they did.

Carmen Ródenas Calatayud, the curator of the exhibition, was born in Valencia (Spain) and is a Professor of Economics at the University of Alicante (Spain). Although her profession is centered on economics, her true passion lies in photography. As a photographer, she tries to capture how people live and feel, with a special interest in those moments that reflect cultural diversity.

Over the past few years, Carmen has held various exhibitions and has participated in several photography contests, both at the national and international levels. Her artistic approach focuses on capturing the essence of people and the environments around them, always seeking those details that reveal the richness of different cultures and lifestyles.