C’est une bien étrange legend qui se transmet dans la région. Elle a pour cadre la retirada, l’afflux de républicains espagnols dans le département, ceux-ci fuyant le régime dictatorial de Franco. Nous sommes en 1939, à La Vajol, petit village sur le versant Nord des Albères, en Spain. Here is the Republican treasure.
The Republicans' treasury
The legend begins on February 27 exactly. That day, seven trucks loaded with gold bullion took the road towards the nearest port with the aim of sending it to Mexico and France. This gold was a remainder of the Spanish bank which the Republicans had succeeded in extracting from the coffers of the central bank and which they wished, of course, to put in safety from the regime which was taking place. However, one of these trucks never arrived at its destination.
Some Catalans assure that they saw him near Las Illas (South of Maureillas, in the Albères), where he would have left part of the cargo. Another source says that the truck went to Argelès where the two conveyors would have buried their treasure while waiting for better days. Sometimes we hear slightly different versions, but whose action is almost always near Argelès or in the Albères.
What is it really? Difficult to know without following the trail of these trucks in a real investigation. It seems likely that seven trucks actually left La Vajol that day, the date is difficult to invent because it is so precise. But their content remains pure supposition.
Among the leads to be ruled out, one must easily put the one which consists in believing that Spaniards were able, without people noticing it, to bury anything on the beaches of Argelès: At that time a detention camp parked these same Republicans on the beach, and it is easy to imagine that this beach has been widely watched, and that for quite some time.
Like all legends, celle-ci doit avoir une part de vérité, et d’autant plus grande qu’elle a pour cadre un lieu proche et une époque récente. Mais seuls quelques personnes doivent connaître ce qui s’est réellement passé ce jour de 1939, à La Vajol.
