Spanish government may propose removal of the remains of Franco from his mausoleum

There are worries that the proposal may yet again re-open Civil War wounds

One of the consequences of the abrupt change in the national government of Spain at the beginning of this month is that new life has been breathed into the long-running arguments over the mortal remains of General Franco, with the Secretary of State for Justice confirming that proposals to have his coffin removed from the Valle de los Caídos and delivered to his surviving descendants will receive backing.

According to Andrés Perelló, who was named Secretary of State for Justice after the PSOE party succeeded with its motion of no confidence in the previous government, the party’s intention is to exhume the former dictator’s remains by means of a reform of the Historical Memory Law of 2007, effectively removing Franco from the monumental mausoleum and mass cemetery whose construction was undertaken on his orders in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, in the region of Madrid. The matter is under debate on Monday by the PSOE’s executive committee, following the presentation last December of a proposal to reform the 2007 law.

At that time the motion did not prosper, blocked by the PP government, but if the same text is to be followed it specifically mentions “the transfer of the remains of Francisco Franco Bahamonde from the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) to a less significant location outside (the valley) or to a spot designated by the family”. On the other hand, the remains of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, who founded the Francoist “Falange” movement, would be allowed to stay in the cemetery on the grounds that he was a victim of the Civil War, having been shot in 1936 by Republican troops.

Other reforms proposed as Spain still struggles to come to terms with aspects of the Civil War which ended 79 years ago include making the exaltation of fascism and Francoism a penal offence and making it government policy to exhume the remains of the 100,000 victims who were buried in mass graves.

The proposal presented in Congress last December was rejected by the PP government on the grounds that it would require funding to the tune of over 213 million euros, but another objection is that to raise the issue again would be to re-open the scars of the Civil War yet again: this may yet cause the new government to withdraw at least some of the suggestions which were made six months ago.

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