A Street to be Named for Brigadier Manuel Varela Limia

Portrait of Brigadier Manuel Varela Limia

The 3rd centenary of the creation of the Engineer Arm will have as its climax, on 10th December, a moving tribute in the locality of Malpica de Bergantiños, La Coruña, where in 1796 Brigadier Manuel Varela Limia was born, the father of the first permanent optical telegraph in Spain.

The tribute will consist of the unveiling the plaque of a street which will bear the name Manuel Varela, the parade of the force through the streets of the town, a lecture on the life of the brigadier and, to conclude, a concert of military music. Attendance is foreseen by the mayor of the town, Mr. Eduardo Parga, the commander of the Operational Logistics Force, General Juan E. Aparicio, and the president of the provincial government of La Coruña, Mr. Diego Calvo, among other civilian and military authorities, along with a group of the brigadier’s relatives and all those residents who wish to join in the tribute to the most illustrious son of Malpica de Bergantiños.

Manuel Varela Limia lived through the tumultuous period that spans the end of the reign of King Carlos IV, the Peninsular War and the reigns of King Fernando VII and Isabel II. Like many other intellectuals, he held liberal stances and fought both absolutism and Carlism. He was interim secretary of War, senator for Lugo, member of the Junta for Revision and Reform of Army Ordinances, extraordinary royal adviser and director general of Roads, Ports, Lighthouses and Telegraphs. He died in Madrid at 57 years of age.