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INPRIMATU
The Spanish Government expects to remove 25,000 corpses from Francoist graves in four years
  • It is a plan promoted by the Government of Spain in the framework of the bill to promote the “Democratic Memory”. This law aims to declare the Franco trials null and void and would involve, among other measures, the transformation of the Valley of the Fallen.
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Erorien Harana. Argazkia: Wikimedia Commons

The Democratic Memory Act (LCD) will declare "null and void" the "unwarranted" judgments committed during the Franco regime, according to Naiz. In addition, the Government of Spain estimates that some 25,000 bodies could be recovered from the burial.

In addition, the draft bill provides for the conversion of the Valley of the Fallen into a civil cemetery in tribute to more than 30,000 victims of the two parts of the crypt.

In order to rebuild the Valley of the Fallen as a civil cemetery, the Benedictine will be removed from the custody of the Basilica, but at the moment the knock down of the great cross, icon of the tomb built for Franco, is not on the table.

Against Francoist foundations

Another highlight of the law that is now being dealt with is the prohibition of foundations or associations receiving public funds that "promote totalitarianism" or "raise up the figures of the dictatorship", conditions that also exist in other European countries for access to aid.

The vice-president of the Spanish Government, Carmen Calvo, explained that the new text will also propose the withdrawal of all the nobiliary titles related to the dictatorship, such as the Franco duchy. Likewise, decorations will be removed from those linked to the Franco regime that were cited, among them the one he gave in his day to the torturing police Antonio González Pacheco, better known as "Billy el Niño", who died in May of this year.

Count of victims

In the area of graves, a DNA bank will be set up to help identify the remains that are still in the process of recovery, although an official census of victims will have to be made beforehand, since, although there are historical records, there are no reliable data.

For the time being, and until the entry into force of the new regulations, the Government will continue to process grants under the Historical Memory Act of 2007, so that associations can continue exhumation work.

The new law will also create a Chamber Prosecutor ' s Office before the Supreme Court to protect the rights of victims of repression and dictatorship. Families will be able to go to the place to file complaints of disappearance, under the International Human Rights Orders signed by Spain.

The bill provides for the attention of groups particularly oppressed by the dictatorship, such as women, homosexuals and Roma. The protection of the archives that enable the recovery of this heritage, the promotion of the investigation of the repressive historical facts and the transfer to Spain of the documentary funds of exile are also part of this Law of Democratic Memory.

The educational field will be mentioned separately, since the analysis of the “Democratic Memory” will be included in the secondary and baccalaureate curriculum and in the training of teachers.

Fines

Unlike the Law on Historical Memory, approved during the mandate of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the new draft also provides for a punitive regime that provides fines of up to 150,000 euros for “very serious” cases such as the destruction of mass graves, the unauthorized transfer of human remains or the production of damage in places declared as “democratic memory”.

Nadia Calviño has advanced that the development of this new rule, which updates the Historical Memory Act of 2007, will be "very long" and its implementation "will take a long time", so four-year plans are planned to ensure budgetary viability.