The mayor of Huelva, Gabriel Cruz, the mayoress of Punta Umbría, Aurora Águedo, Leopoldo Sánchez Pallarés, president of the Major association william martinand an English delegation headed by Sarah Cowley, Minister Counselor of the British Embassy in Madrid, have participated in the traditional act where homage is paid in the cemetery to William Martin, ‘The man who never existed’, and which this year is the 80th anniversary of the appearance of his body.
The act coincided with the premiere of the Marking Plan for the Tomb of William Martin at the Soledad Cemetery -developed by the Department of Tourism, Promotion of Huelva Abroad and the University-, which has included the installation of a monolith with an information panel at the entrance, a plaque on the tomb itself and signage along the route, with eight indications marking the path to the tomb.
In addition, the city already has ‘William Martin’ street “the man who never existed but who managed to change the course of the Second World War from Huelva”, granted by the City Council in 2022 to pay tribute to this unique British figure.
As the mayor has pointed out today, “this event marked a turn in the history of the world from Huelva that we keep very much alive, after 80 years, remembering Major William Martin since 1943 and the decisive role he played in the development of history contemporary the figure of this Briton, whose grave can be visited in the La Soledad cemetery, where we have expanded the information so that all citizens know this extraordinary fact.
In addition, with the signage of a street “we do justice to this British subject and we continue advancing in our task of valuing the British Legacy, as a sign of Huelva identity, a tangible and intangible heritage that British culture gave to the Huelva people, its influence on our customs, in our way of seeing and organizing life, its logistical and business means, its infrastructures, even part of its language in a mixture with the languages of our province that have enriched our vocabulary”.
For this reason, Gabriel Cruz has assured “we have to take advantage of this heritage, which is one of our greatest potentials and it is more than ever necessary that we get to know it, explore it, and use it for what it is: one of the most interesting vehicles for teaching the world the greatness and wealth of the capital and its province”.
Major William Martin Association
The president of the Major William Martin Association, Leopoldo Sánchez Pallarés, stressed that the intention is to “continue working to promote cultural, sports and urban projects with which to disseminate the history of William Martin, as we are currently doing with a series of talks in schools intended for schoolchildren; the cultural days, the William Martin regatta, which began in 2018 and other activities for the conservation, protection and dissemination of British heritage in its entirety”.
The mystery of the appearance of the body of William Martin gave the capital of Huelva a leading role in universal history, by hosting an operation that played a relevant role and that still continues to arouse a lot of interest inside and outside our borders, with all the incentives to use it as a tourist resource linked to culture, an expanding formula that offers great economic benefits at the local level.
