"We will find the most important urban civil monument of the 19th century in the centre of the Plaza de la Merced; it was designed by the city architect Rafael Mitjana in honour of General Torrijos.
This funerary monument was erected in memory of José María Torrijos and 48 of his companions who were shot on the beach of San Andrés by order of Ferdinand VII (1784 – 1833). Initially they wanted to erect the monument where they were put to death but they decided to use the Plaza de Riego, as the square was formerly known at that time, instead.
The base or pedestal of the monument was used as a crypt where the remains of these defenders of freedom now rest. The monument consists of two parts, the first of them with dedications and the second with the names of the deceased. An obelisk decorated with a bronze laurel wreath and another one at the top of the pyramid complete the monument.
Its construction was funded by popular donations and raffles. A fact that is worth noting about the Monument to Torrijos is that the upper block of stone was slightly displaced by the earthquake of 1884. This was not put right during the restoration as it was considered part of the history of the city."
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José María de Torrijos e Iruarte
"Jose Maria Torrijos y Uriarte (March 20, 1791 – December 11, 1831), Count of Torrijos, a title granted posthumously by the Queen Governor, also known as General Torrijos, was a Spanish Liberal soldier. He fought in the Spanish War of Independence and after the restoration of absolutism by Ferdinand VII in 1814 he participated in the pronouncement of John Van Halen of 1817 that sought to restore the Constitution of 1812, for which he spent two years in prison until he was released after the triumph of the Riego uprising in 1820. He returned to fight the French when the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis invaded Spain to restore the absolute power of Ferdinand VII and when those triumphed ending the liberal triennium exiled to England. There he prepared a statement which he himself led, landing on the coast of Málaga from Gibraltar on December 2, 1831, with sixty men accompanying him, but they fell into the trap that had been laid before him by the absolutist authorities and were arrested. Nine days later, on December 11, Torrijos and 48 of his fellow survivors were shot without trial on the beach of San Andres de Málaga, a fact that was immortalized by a sonnet of José de Espronceda entitled To the death of Torrijos and his Companions, Enrique Gil y Carrasco's A la memoria del General Torrijos, and by a well-known 1888 painting by Antonio Gisbert. "The tragic outcome of his life explains what has happened to history, in all fairness, as a great symbol of the struggle against despotism and tyranny, with the traits of epic nobility and serenity typical of the romantic hero, eternalized in the famous painting by Antonio Gisbert."The city of Málaga erected a monument to Torrijos and his companions in the Plaza de la Merced, next to the birthplace of the painter Pablo Picasso. Under the monument to Torrijos in the middle of the square are the tombs of 48 of the 49 men shot; One of them, British, was buried in the English cemetery (Málaga)."
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The thomb puts:
"EL GENERAL
Da José María de Torrijos
arrebatado a las esperarzas de su
Patria, por la mas alevosa perfidia; fué
inhumanamente inmolado por su ardiente
amor á la libertad, el dia 11 de Diciembre
de 1833. á los 40 años, 8 meses 21 días de edad
El eterno cariño de su iniconsolabe viuda
Transmite este recuerdo a la posteridad"
THE GENERAL
D José María de Torrijos
Snatched from the hopes of his
Homeland, for the most treacherous perfidy; it was
Inhumanly immolated by his ardent
Love of freedom, on December 11
From 1833 at 40 years old, 8 months 21 days of age
The eternal affection of his widow's iniconsolabe
Transmit this memory to posterity.
The thomb is with other general.