Manuel Vázquez Alfalla
Catholic priest murdered in Motril in 1936
Feast: 25 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Manuel Vazquez Alfalla was born on 14 July 1863 at Motril, Spain, and ordained priest in 1892, serving as a beneficiary of the church of the Incarnation in Motril, a coadjutor at Salobrena and parish priest of Lobres, and as a missionary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1907 to 1922. Enterprising and hard-working, he ran various charitable initiatives for his townspeople and was decorated for his work with the Spanish Red Cross, including rescuing shipwreck survivors.
On 25 July 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, churches in Motril were burned and religious were killed; Don Manuel was recognised despite wearing secular clothes as he left the sacristan's house where he had taken refuge, and was shot dead in the street, his body later buried in a mass grave. He was included with fifteen other martyrs of the diocese of Granada and beatified in Granada cathedral on 26 February 2022, under Pope Francis.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
Diocesan priest of Motril, Spain, shot in the street during the 1936 religious persecution; beatified in 2022.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Santi, beati e testimoni (santiebeati.it) - Beato Emanuele Vázquez Alfalla, by Emilia Flocchini
- Wikidata Q133800157 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.