Stolperstein dedicated to Juan Antonio García Acero

The Stolperstein dedicated to Juan Antonio García Acero is a small brass memorial stone set into the pavement at Calle de la Huerta del Bayo 5, in the Embajadores (Lavapiés) neighbourhood of Madrid. It commemorates one of the city's residents deported to Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War.

Who is this stone dedicated to?

Juan Antonio García Acero worked as a carabinero, a member of the Spanish border and customs guard. During the Spanish Civil War he fought on the Republican side and, through wartime merit, rose to the rank of lieutenant. He was a widower and father of six children. After the Republic's defeat in 1939 he had to flee Spain, joining the thousands of Republicans who crossed into France in search of safety.

In France he fell into German hands. In 1940 he was deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, and in February 1941 he was transferred to the Gusen subcamp, where he died in December 1941. A neighbour from the very same building, Manuel Nieto Sainz, was also deported and died in the same camp — two lives from one address, remembered side by side.

What is a Stolperstein, and why is it here?

Stolpersteine ("stumbling stones") are part of an international memorial art project: a small brass-topped cobblestone, roughly 9.6 by 9.6 centimetres, is set into the pavement directly in front of a victim's last freely chosen home. Each plaque carries the phrase "Here lived" (hier wohnte), the person's name, details of their deportation, and the place and date of death or liberation.

García Acero's stone was laid on 2 July 2021, during a ceremony organised by Madrid's Centro district in which 15 such stones were installed across the pavements of Lavapiés and Embajadores, honouring residents deported to German concentration camps. The location is never arbitrary: each stone marks the exact spot where the victim lived before being forced to flee or was arrested.

How do you get there, and what should you know before visiting?

The stone sits on the pavement of Calle de la Huerta del Bayo, in the heart of Lavapiés — one of Madrid's most multicultural and lively neighbourhoods, well connected by metro (Lavapiés and Embajadores stations) and bus. There is no admission fee and no opening hours: the stone is embedded in a public street and can be visited at any time.

Take a moment to read the inscription — it is the only way to learn the story of the person who once lived there. Several other Stolpersteine lie nearby, so it is worth planning a short memorial walk through Lavapiés and Embajadores to visit a few of them together.

Why is this stone worth a stop?

Stolpersteine are not a conventional tourist attraction — they are a form of local remembrance that gives back a name and a face to victims who are often reduced to statistics in history books. Pausing at García Acero's stone means confronting, on a human scale, the cost of Francoist and Nazi persecution: the fate of a widower and father of six who paid with his life, far from home, for his loyalty to the Republic.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the stone located? On the pavement at Calle de la Huerta del Bayo 5, in the Embajadores (Lavapiés) neighbourhood in central Madrid.

Who was Juan Antonio García Acero? A carabinero and Republican army lieutenant, widower and father of six, deported in 1940 to Mauthausen and later to Gusen, where he died in December 1941.

Do you need a ticket or a booked visit? No — the stone is part of the public pavement and can be seen at any time, free of charge.

Are there other memorial stones nearby? Yes, Lavapiés and Embajadores contain a dozen or so Stolpersteine, laid as part of the same 2021 memorial initiative.