to . One of the pillars of the Freinet method was empowering children to create and narrate their own stories , which was made possible through the use of a printing press and the autonomous , cooperative work that children carried out around it . The children of Bañuelos de Bureba , having never seen the sea , inspired the notebook ’ s creation , prompting Antoni Benaiges to invite them to visit his hometown , Mont-roig de Camp ( Tarragona ), so they could see the sea for themselves . Antoni had to contend with the hesitations and opposition of some families , including those of Emilio and Josefina , the daughter of the mayor of Bañuelos de Bureba . Benaiges ’ s genuine persistence and his students ’ excitement ultimately overcame these reservations , and he secured permission from all families to take the children to see the sea .
Tragically , the trip was never to happen . On 19 July 1936 , amidst the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War , Falangist squads took control of the area and arrested Benaiges at the Casa del Pueblo in Briviesca . They tortured him , paraded him around , and destroyed the physical remnants of his pedagogical work , smashing the printing press and burning the notebooks . A few days later , he was killed , and to this day , the exact location of his remains is still unknown .
The film concludes with the elderly , frail Carlos Ramírez gazing towards the sea with a melancholic , contemplative expression as he listens to his granddaughter Ariadna ’ s tender words about his teacher and his father , Bernardo . The scene is poised between the resignation and suffering of the past and the modest but hopeful sense of reconciliation in the present .
“ The Teacher Who Promised the Sea ” brings to light issues that help viewers understand the educational processes experienced during the Spanish Second Republic ( 1931 – 1936 / 39 ). In a context where the Catholic Church held most of the resources and influence over the school system , and in a society facing illiteracy levels unworthy of a modern nation , the Republican educational reform of those years aimed to tackle this systemic backwardness , and would become a major target for Francoist repression . The secular teachers who worked during this period were , depending on the case , purged , detained , and even tortured and murdered . Such was the fate of Antoni Benaiges , who happened to be in Briviesca ( Burgos ) on that fateful 19th of July 1936 , still preparing the children ’ s trip . If not for this , he would likely have been on holiday at his family home in Mont-roig del Camp ( Tarragona ).
“ The Teacher Who Promised the Sea ” skilfully uses the resources of audiovisual language to establish a fluid dialogue between different ways of approaching the past . It speaks to us of history — a finite , bygone past . It speaks of the unrestrained violence and political , social , and moral repression that took place in Francoist Spain following the coup of July 1936 . But it also speaks of memory , of how this past echoes in the present , weighing on victims whose redress faces political , social ,
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