The memory associations of Navarre have called for a demonstration on 18 January in response to the refusal of the City of Pamplona to demolish the Memorial to the Fallen. The event will begin at 18:00 in Plaza de la Libertad and will take place from Avenida Carlos III to Plaza del Castillo. The demonstration, under the motto “In defense of the rights of the victims of Franco for truth, justice and reparation”, has the “guarantee of non-repetition”.

Political and legal debate

The controversy about the future of the building, built in 1942, intensified after on November 20 EH Bildu, PSN and Geroa Bai reached an agreement to give a new meaning to the monument. The memorialist associations call the pact approved by an absolute majority "treason" and assure that they did not know the content of the agreement until the day before it was approved. Since then, these associations have argued that the only possible solution under the Democratic Memory Act is demolition.

For its part, the City of Pamplona considers, on the basis of a report from its legal services, that this law does not oblige to demolish the building in Navarra. According to the report, municipal planning legislation is still in force and should be amended through a procedure: A binding report should be obtained from the Prince of Viana Institute, which should be adopted by an absolute majority in plenary.

Reviews of the City Hall

On 16 October last, the associations registered the request for dismantling and the resolution took place one month after the agreement was known. According to recent reports, the mayor of Pamplona, Joseba Asiron, on 28 November rejected the proposed demolition of the urbanization. The memorialist associations consider that the resolution is not motivated and that the municipal legal report “misinterprets” the Democratic Memory Law. They have recalled that the regulation adopted in 2022 is basic and establishes the obligation to withdraw the Francoist symbols throughout the Spanish State.

The associations have stressed that “the Memorial to the Fallen is a Francoist symbol, and the law does not provide for a new meaning, but its elimination”. They also consider that the mayor can act without the need to modify urban regulations and without the need to reach a qualified majority in plenary.

The demonstration on 18 January aims to bring together the citizens in favour of the demolition of the monument and to strengthen the social pressure for the City Hall to turn its stance. “It is essential to ensure uniform treatment for all victims of human rights violations,” they argued, emphasizing that compliance with the law is essential to “advance in historical memory.”