Stolperstein dedicated to Juan García Ramírez

The Stolperstein dedicated to Juan García Ramírez is a brass "stumbling stone" set into the pavement at Calle Santa Isabel 17 in Madrid's Centro district, in the Lavapiés neighbourhood. It belongs to the Stolpersteine project, an initiative by German artist Gunter Demnig who, since the 1990s, has embedded small commemorative plaques in the ground outside the last known homes of Nazi victims. In Madrid, these stones mark Spaniards who were deported to German concentration camps after the Spanish Civil War.

Who was Juan García Ramírez?

Juan García Ramírez was born in 1917. Like thousands of other Spanish Republicans, he went into exile in France after the civil war ended. In 1940 he was deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. He died on 8 November 1941 at the Gusen subcamp, one of the deadliest sites in the Mauthausen system, where prisoners were forced to work in stone quarries under conditions that caused mass death through exhaustion and starvation.

What will you see at the site?

The stone itself is small, a brass plaque the size of a cobblestone, set flush with the pavement and engraved with the victim's name, date of birth, date of deportation, and the date and place of death. There is no monument in the traditional sense here — the point of the Stolpersteine is precisely that they surface in ordinary city streets, in front of the door the victim once walked through. More stones can be found nearby on Santa Isabel and across the Centro district: Madrid is one of several Spanish cities where local memory associations have been systematically tracing the fates of deportees who might otherwise be forgotten.

How do you get there?

Calle Santa Isabel sits right in the heart of Madrid, in Lavapiés, a few minutes' walk from Antón Martín metro station (line 1) or Lavapiés station (line 3). It's a densely built, lively part of the city, so it's worth pairing a visit with a stroll through the surrounding streets, known for their cafés, small galleries, and multicultural character. The stone is set into the ground, so it's easy to miss — look down at your feet near number 17.

When should you visit?

The site is accessible year-round and at any hour, since it's simply part of an open public street — there are no opening times or tickets. Quieter mid-morning hours make it easier to stop and take a moment without foot traffic pushing past. November, the month Juan García Ramírez died, often brings local remembrance events organised by associations representing former deportees and their descendants.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly is a Stolperstein? A brass plaque set into the pavement, part of a Europe-wide project commemorating individual victims of Nazism at the site of their last home address.

Why is there a Stolperstein in Madrid rather than in Germany? Demnig's project also covers cities outside Germany where people who were later deported by the Nazi regime had lived. In Spain, most of these were Republicans who went into exile after the civil war and were later captured by German forces in France.

Do you need a ticket to visit? No. It's part of an open public pavement, freely accessible at any time.

Are there other similar stones nearby? Yes, the Centro district holds more than a dozen Stolpersteine dedicated to Madrid residents deported to concentration camps, so it's worth planning a short memorial walk covering several addresses.