In this buiding (now Pinzon hotel) there is a plaque to commemorate the pilot.
The plaque says:
"En esta casa nació y murió
D. MANUEL BARREIRO ALVAREZ
(1830 - 1940)
1er avisdor al que se le concedió la más alta condecoración militar
La Laureada de San Fernando 1913
Fue nombrado "hijo predilecto de la Villa" por acuerdo plenario el 6 de junio de 2013
Baiona, 15 de noviembre de 2015
trans: In this house he was born and died.
D. MANUEL BARREIRO ALVAREZ
(1830 - 1940)
1st pilot who was awarded the highest military decoration
The Laureate of San Fernando 1913
He was named "predilect son of the Villa" by plenary agreement on June 6, 2013
Baiona, November 15, 2015
"Manuel Barreiro Álvarez (Bayonne, October 23, 1880 - Bayonne, July 13, 1940) was a Spanish aviator, the second to be decorated with the Laureate Cross of San Fernando.
Born in Bayonne, Pontevedra, he studied high school at the Colegio del Apóstol Santiago in Vigo, entering the Military Academy of Engineers at the age of 18. In 1905 he was promoted to first lieutenant, being assigned to Valladolid and having his first assignment in the Mixed Regiment of Sappers. In 1906 he was assigned to Mallorca. In 1911 he was promoted to captain and, again, he was assigned to Valladolid. In 1912 he passed, again destined to Mallorca for the command of the Telégrafos company of that Command.
Military Aviation
He requested to take the airplane pilot course, and in April 1913 he was called to the Aerostation School of Guadalajara and later to the Cuatro Vientos airfield, to the airplane pilot course. On October 6 of that same year, he received the title of airplane observer with the number 47 and that of second-class military pilot.
San Fernando Laureate Cross
At the end of that October 1913, as part of the 1.ª airplane squadron, sent to the war in Morocco. Captain Barreiro, from the Sania Ramel airfield, made numerous flights as an observer and as a pilot over enemy territory.
On November 19 of that same year, they took off from the airfield to carry out a reconnaissance mission with a Maurice Farman plane MF.7 n.º 1, piloted by Lieutenant Julio Ríos Angüeso. When flying over Mount Conic, they had to descend, at which time the rebels fired several shots at the plane, being seriously injured in the Barreiro chest.
The aviators were removed from the device in serious condition. A telegram from King Alfonso XIII promoted both to immediate employment and a few days later the file of the contradictory trial for the granting of the Laureate Cross of San Fernando to the two officers was opened.
Corps of Invalid
Barreiro never fully recovered from his serious wound, and when he became useless for the service, he entered the General Corps of Invalids, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1920. In September 1921, he was awarded the Laureate Cross of San Fernando at an event held in Vigo, at the Colegio del Apóstol Santiago where he had attended high school.
At the outbreak of the civil war, in the summer of 1936, the already general Barreiro, was hospitalized in the sanatorium of Guadarrama, managing to move to France, to the national area where he offered his services being rejected for his precarious health, so he established his residence in Bayonne.
He died at the age of 59, on July 13, 1940"
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