On 25 August 2004 , the City of Paris officially paid homage to the Spaniards of '' La Nueve . '' A plaque , with the inscription " '' Aux républicains espagnols , composante principale de la colonne Dronne '' " ( " to the Spanish republicans , principal component of the Dronne column " ) was inaugurated on the Quai Henri IV , in the presence of then-mayor Bertrand Delanoë , then-president of the Spanish Senate , Francisco Javier Rojo , the Spanish ambassador to France at the time , Francisco Villar , and two of the surviving members of the company , Luis Royo Ibañez and Manuel Fernandez . A similar plaque was placed in the Square Gustave-Mesureur , Place Pinel ( 13th Arrondissement ) and another at the centre of the Place Nationale ( also in the 13th ) . On 24 February 2010 , veterans of '' La Nueve '' Luis Royo Ibañez , Manuel Fernandez and Rafael Gómez were awarded the Médaille Grand Vermeil , the highest such award granted by the City of Paris . In 2014 , the association '' 24 Août 1944 '' ( " 24 August 1944 " ) organized a series of marches following the route of '' La Nueve '' through Paris in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of its liberation . Also in attendance was Rafael Gómez , who , as of 20 April 2017 , was the last remaining veteran of '' La Nueve '' still alive . In March 2015 , in Paris , the garden of the Hôtel de Ville was renamed the '' Jardin des Combattants de la Nueve '' ( French for " Garden of the Soldiers of '' La Nueve '' " ) . A ceremony was due to take place in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain , Felipe VI and Letizia , as well as the Mayor of Paris , Anne Hidalgo ; however , the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 , where 51 Spanish citizens lost their lives , cut short the royal visit , and the ceremony was rescheduled for 3 June 2015 . In a ceremony in April 2017 , the Mayors of Madrid and Paris , Manuela Carmena and Anne Hidalgo , officially renamed a municipal park in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood of Madrid as the '' Jardín de los Combatientes de La Nueve '' ( Spanish for " Garden of the Soldiers of '' La Nueve '' " )
Germanwings Flight 9525
Germanwings Flight 9525
La Nueve