| Just El Caudillo
and a horse. The two of them often splattered with paint from protesters.
At the horse’s feet lay bunches of withered flowers.
On March
17th in the middle of night, under a pretext of carrying out road works,
the Ministro de Fomento removed the last statue of Franco from the capital.
The horse went too. Although it was meant to be a secret operation, some
100 supporters turned out to demonstrate against the removal. The midnight
errand provoked a strong reaction from the Far-Right who dragged themselves
up from their usual petrified positions to protest in the loudest terms
possible. Why stir up the past, asked the Partido Popular, Spaniards are
not interested in these things.
It is precisely
because the past remains stirred up that this issue has come to the fore
again. The Goverment has begun to argue that they cannot create a law
about the removal of Francoist symbols as it is up to each local authority
to act as it sees fit and to act according to its conscience. But the rest
of Parliament (PSOE, Nationalist’s etc etc) have proposed to draw
up exactly such a law, one that has so far been approved by all the parties
(except of course by the Partido Popular).
The problem
is further compounded by the fact that many of these symbols are on church
property, causing the continued calls to remove them to fall on deaf
ears. Certainly if you travel through some of the smaller villages of Extremadura
or Castilla y Leon you will find the Falange insigna engraved on church
walls, situated in the local Plaza Generalisimo or alongside Avenida Jose
Antonio Primo de Rivera (Father of the Falange Party). The church
has also been a willing partner in prohibiting access to burial sites and
nothing short of legislation, argue the associations will open their doors
to the families of the deceased.
But then,
the church isn’t too happy right now with Zapatero. The legalisation
of gay marriages and the forced distancing of the church in education has
not made senor President the Catholic Kid of the month in ecclesiatical
circles. Neither is his party, the PSOE, seen as a natural bedfellow
of the military, and it is in this arena that perhaps the greatest resistence
to any change in history will be found. The military has all the archives
and details of burial sites but is unwilling to share what it feels to
be its’ own exclusive version of history. There is almost no access for
historians or politicians let alone families of the Republicans trying
to trace what happened to their relations. Even Paul Preston, the famous
biographer of Franco and Spanish historian was denied access to organisations
such as the Franciso Franco Foundation, created under the last PP government
– and headed by Franco’s daughter.
Whilst Zapatero
tries to balance the increasingly polarised sectors of Spain, Amnesty
International has this summer demanded that the government stop delaying
and act now on these issues. It argues that the Associations are getting
impatient and that the issue is now of greater urgency given the advanced
age of the few surviving members. And the Governments partners in power:
ERC and Izquierda Verde have requested that at least the issue of
the Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen) be resolved before
the significant 20th of November anniversary this year. They wish for the
Valley to be turned into a permenant exhibiiton of the Dictator’s reign
of terror. This cold and nightmarish symbol of the Franco regime - a 300
foot cross under which both Franco and Primo de Rivera are cosily buried
- was built by12,000 political prisoners. Many lost their lives in its
construction as they quarried 250 metres into the valley. It is usual for
supporters to congregate at the Valle de los Caidos each 20th of November
to comemorate the little man in a rather sad display of political
worship. But it wasn’t just the Valley that Franco put his prisoners to
work on. They were also hired off to work for private companies constructing
dams, canals, railways and factories. In return they received just 25%
of the normal low wage whilst the state took the rest.
Disinherited
properties, unmarked graves, inaccessible archives and fascist symbols
everywhere. Is the “time right” to now implement the last wishes
of Captain Juan Rodriguez or will, delays, diplomacy and the “forgive
and forget” legacy dilute any real legislation from the Socialists
in power? And how effective is the removal of one paint splattered statue
when many other street names in the capital and elsewhere remain so boldy
displayed? (Such as those dedicated to General Millan Astray - famous
for his statement: “Death to intelligence.”)
The Government
is already under pressure from the Church, can it shoulder added pressure
from the Military, the Partido Popular and the fringe right still active
in Spain? It certainly has an obligation to try, an obligation to history
and to itself as a new Euro-centric power. Zapatero has proved himself
capable of acting decisively against these forces before now, when he stood
up to Bush and Blair by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq. Such decisiveness
is needed now.
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