Dolores Ibárruri Gómez, known as 'La Pasionaria' ('the Passionflower'), was a Spanish Republican heroine and a communist politician of Basque origin, remembered particularly for her famous slogan ¡No Pasarán! ('They shall not pass') from a speech she made on 18 July 1936 during the Battle for Madrid. The speech ended with the words: 'Long live the Popular Front! Long live the union of all anti-fascists! Long live the Republic of the people! The Fascists shall not pass! THEY SHALL NOT PASS!'. The leader of the fascist forces, Generalísimo Francisco Franco, upon gaining Madrid, responded to this slogan by declaring 'Hemos pasado' ('We have passed').
'¡No pasarán!' was taken up by British anti-fascists during the October 1936 Battle of Cable Street. See our Battle of Cable St tea towel and our Spanish Civil War tea towel.
