Eh Bildu, PSN and Geroa Bai have agreed in the City Hall of Pamplona/Iruña on the repatriation of public officials. The Monument to the Fallen will remain there, will not be demolished in its entirety, but the architectural elements "of Francoist symbology" will be removed, as well as its exterior aspect and internal meaning.

After months of discussions and negotiations, the three parties have reached a political agreement on the building, which was announced on 20 November, the day on which the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco passed away. However, they have made it clear that all the details will be made known through a public event in Bilbao.

Centre Marvels Lamberto

The Monument to the Fallen of Pamplona was erected in 1942 to extol the fascist regime and to remember those who died in the 1936 War in favor of the military uprising. It is the largest monument of this nature built by Franco, after the Valley of the Fallen in Cuelgamuros of Madrid. For this reason, these parties have argued that the building should be built in a "strong, clear and expressive" manner, based on the criteria set out above.

The three parties have agreed to completely change their meaning to space, becoming a centre of democratic memory to denounce fascism, as it has advanced Naiz.eus. The center will be baptized as "marvels Lamberto", in tribute to the girl of Larraga, murdered by the Francoists in 1936.

Covered dome

Among other things, the great dome, today symbol of the monument, will be covered. From the outside it will not look like now, but "secularized", and from the inside, the Franco paintings of Ramón Stolz that exhibit them will be hidden from the general public, they can only be seen for pedagogical and critical purposes.

In addition, the crypts of the fascist military Emilio Mola and José Sanjurjo will be demolished and removed, with the existing marble stones and inscriptions. The mortal remains of these two Franco generals were removed from the Memorial to the Fallen in 2016.

Citizen participation

According to the document, the objective of this centre is to offer a critical reading of this historical period, to explain to the new generations the risk posed by the fascist ideology and to demonstrate the need for democratic values and for the constant defence of human rights.

To do so, there will be a public competition, but before that a participatory process will be carried out in the town hall to define the characteristics of the space in collaboration with the citizens. In addition, EH Bildu, PSN and Geroa Bai will present their proposals to amend the law to "give legal certainty to the transformation of the building".

The debate on the future of the Memorial to the Fallen has taken place in Pamplona and Navarra in a forceful way. In the Larrun supplement, Xabier Letona from ARGIA offered a round table with representatives of various experts and agents: Monument to the Fallen of Pamplona. You can read it under the title Dismantle, Reinvent or Turn history into a museum.