Description
General Leopoldo Saro was a prominent soldier and politician in the first quarter of the 20th century. It was linked to the province of Jaén for family reasons, promoting numerous activities of a social, cultural and economic nature. In Úbeda he promoted the opening of the municipal library, several school groups, the Parador de Turismo, the reconstruction of the Casa de las Torres as the School of Arts and Crafts and the Ideal Cinema Theater. He also contributed to the development of the Baeza-Utiel railway line, although it never came into operation. It is not surprising that General Saro was designated Úbeda's adopted son. A statue was erected in his honor to the general in the Plaza Primero de Mayo, later relocated to the Plaza Vieja or Toledo, which was later renamed Plaza del General Saro and now Plaza de Andalucía. The general was assassinated in August 1936 by Republican militiamen and it seems that his statue was later shot at by an anarchist platoon. Antonio Muñoz Molina uses the figure of General Saro and his square to create his own general, General Orduña, as well as his own literary space, the Plaza del General Orduña, which is present in some of his works (Beatus Ille and El Jinete Polaco). He even uses the argument of the “execution of the statue” to include it in Beatus Ille.
