New Delhi: Spain’s Supreme Court Tuesday passed a decree to exhume the mortal remains of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from his state mausoleum.
The court’s decision has polarised Spaniards with Franco’s family and supporters condemning it, and the socialists welcoming the move. Franco’s body is buried in a mausoleum called the ‘Valley of The Fallen’, which also has graves of those killed in the Spanish Civil Wars that he started to overthrow the democratically-elected government at the time.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made the announcement, and took to Twitter to call the decision “a great victory for Spanish democracy”.
Hoy vivimos una gran victoria de la democracia española. La determinación de reparar el sufrimiento de las víctimas del franquismo guio siempre la acción del Gobierno. El Supremo avala la exhumación de los restos de Franco y su traslado a El Pardo.
Justicia, memoria y dignidad.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) September 24, 2019
“The will to undo the suffering of victims of Francoism has always guided the government’s actions,” he added.
The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party had made exhuming Franco’s body a priority since it came to power in June 2018. However, the leader of the Far-Right Vox Party Santiago Abascal said they would stand against digging up the “hatred of the past”.
“Legal or not, the government’s intention is to desecrate tombs against the family’s wishes. We will always oppose digging up the dead and the hatred of the past. Let’s look to the future because we love Spain & want harmony amongst Spaniards,” he said.
Empieza la campaña socialista: Profanar tumbas, desenterrar odios, cuestionar la legitimidad de la monarquía. Solo VOX se opondrá frontalmente, porque solo VOX tiene el valor para defender la libertad y el sentido común frente al totalitarismo y los trucos de propaganda electoral
— Santiago Abascal ?? (@Santi_ABASCAL) September 24, 2019
Who is Francisco Franco?
Franco became the head of Spain’s government after he brought about the downfall of the Spanish Democratic Republic during the Spanish Civil Wars between 1936 and 1939. He led a military rebellion that established the regime of nationalist forces in the country. In August 1939, he passed a law called ‘The law of Head of State’ which transferred all powers to him.
Under his rule, Spain saw killings and repression of political opponents. He was supported by the Italian and German fascist regimes of Mussolini and Hitler, who promoted ethnic cleansing as a part of the nationalist movement. Franco had promoted Spanish tradition and languages as ‘pure’ and ‘unadulterated’, and suppressed diversity. After World War II, he was labeled the last surviving fascist dictator by the United Nations.
Who is opposing his exhumation
Franco’s mausoleum was built by political prisoners. Over the year, tributes were paid to him on his death anniversary, a practice that was stopped by a 2007 law. The family and supporters of Franco had been trying to block the move or have him reburied at his family crypt Le Almudena Cathedral located in central Madrid, but the government avoided it to prevent it from becoming a tourist attraction. It would have made Franco the first European fascist leader to be buried in a cathedral.
According to a poll by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, around 40.9% voters across various parties support the move, and 38.5% oppose it. Out of these 40.9%, 62.6% are the supporters of the ruling party while 13.1% from the Right-wing parties also support it. There is a high percentage of citizens who are not concerned by the controversy (20%) and majority of people (54%) believe that it is not a good time to address the issue.
Some have said the exhumation and reburial exercise does not matter, and the family should have a right to decide where they want Franco’s mortal remains to lie. However, Spanish leader Alberta Rivera said Franco’s dictatorship had ended 44 years ago, and Spaniards do not care anymore.
Valley of Fallen a reminder
A large majority of Francoism victims supported the exhumation since they see ‘Valley of the Fallen’ as a symbol of Franco’s dictatorial and oppressive regime. The memorial which was erected to honor those who died in the Spanish Civil War contains the graves of around 40,000 people from both democratic and republican parties. Exhumation supporters point out that of these graves, only two are identified by their names. One of them is Franco’s.
Spanish leader Pablo Iglesias from the Left-wing Podemos party said the exhumation of Franco is a very important step in repairing the shame that we have endured for 40 years of democracy.
Franco family’s lawyer, Luis Felipe Utera Molin said the family would fight the order since this was a violation of fundamental rights and there cannot be exceptions because of the surname. However Spanish journalist Olga Rodriguez responded saying families of around 1,14,000 persons missing have not been able to choose where to bury them because of Franco’s regime.
What happens to Franco’s body now?
The Spanish government will take his remains to El Pardo-Mingorrubio cemetery in north Madrid after exhuming them from the state mausoleum. But with Franco’s family saying it will file an appeal with the constitutional court, it could delay the process.
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