Olimpiada Popular by Morel?

Essentially this is a concept album chronologizing the outbreak of Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and murky consequences of its outcome.

This project is in many ways also dedicated to all those honest, human, progressive and inclusive ideas which have been repeatedly destroyed in many conflicts before and since, by different political persuasions, right and left alike.

Here you can find what 'Olimpiada Popular' means in historical terms:

1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin, Germany, which by that point was firmly in grip of Adolf Hitler. The Völkischer Beobachter (Nazis official newspaper) made it clear that Jews should not be allowed to take part in the Games. Anticipating boycott of the Games by majority of nations, Hitler reluctantly allowed athletes of different ethnicity from other countries to participate. However, German Jewish athletes were barred or prevented from taking part and Jewish athletes from other parts of the world have been side-lined in order not to offend the Nazi government. At the end 49 nations turned up for such preposterous and above all shameful event. As for description of the opening ceremony, read the following quote: "Some nations' athletes purposefully gave the Nazi salute as they passed Hitler. Others gave the Olympic salute (a similar one, given with the same arm), or a different gesture entirely, such as hats-over-hearts, as the United States and China did."

PEOPLE'S OLYMPIAD

Olimpiada Popular was anticipated, but never held, international multi-sporting event that was meant to take place in Barcelona, the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia within the Spanish Republic. It was conceived as a protest event against 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. A total of 6000 athletes from 22 nations registered for the games. The largest contingents of athletes came from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and French Algeria. There were also teams from Germany and Italy made up of political exiles from those countries. Teams representing Jewish exiles, Alsace, Galicia, Catalonia and the Basque Country also registered.

With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War just days before opening ceremony, the games were cancelled. Some athletes never made it to Barcelona as the borders had been closed, while many who were already in the city, made a hasty exit. However, at least 200 of the athletes remained in Spain and joined workers' militias that were organized to defend the Second Spanish Republic against the nationalists.

2016 marks 80th anniversary of those events, and we thought perhaps these could be adequate times to commemorate those brave and rightful individuals and groups who tried to really change the world for better.