EH Bildu has tabled a motion in the Senate calling on one of the main perpetrators of the bombing of Otxandio, the Francoist Orduña military Ángel Salas Larrazabal, to withdraw his decorations on the same day that 88 years are turned from the massacre.

It occurred four days after the military uprising of the Franco bombings in Otxandio, before the bombings in Durango and Gernika. In total, the attack resulted in 61 deaths and a large number of injuries, resulting in the total destruction of the town.

The Government of Felipe González awarded one of the top leaders responsible for the massacre with the honorary distinction of the General of the Air Force for "exceptional merits".

EH spokesman Bildu in the Senate, Gorka Elejabarrieta, has described as “unacceptable” that 88 years later one of the direct perpetrators of this massacre will continue to keep their medals. It has therefore tabled a motion calling on the Spanish Government to "take immediate action".

Elejabarrieta stressed that the Democratic Memory Act provides for the repeal of the designations linked to fascist crimes. Moreover, on 2 April last, Elejabarrieta himself asked the Minister of Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, about this issue.

The minister endorsed EH Bildu at the Senate control session and expressed her "full readiness" to take the necessary steps to end this injustice.

Thus, at the request of EH Senator Bildu Gorka Elejabarrieta, the Spanish Government undertook to remove the decorations in democracy from the military of Orduña, Ángel Salas Larrazabal.

88 years since the massacre

Elejabarrieta recalled what happened on the day of the bombing: "On the morning of July 22, 1936, the Breguet 19 aircraft flying over Otxandio started firing papers, and once they managed to attract several people to the area, the two planes started firing bombs inside them. Result: a destroyed people, 61 dead and many wounded."

The bombing drivers received messages of congratulations from General Mola, as denounced by the sovereign senator: The Angel Salas Larrazabal himself became the link between Franco, Mola and Queipo de Llano and also served as senator.

II. He participated as a pilot in the World War with the ‘Blue Squadron’ brigade, integrated into the Nazi Army in the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Elejabarrieta stressed that EH Bildu will not surrender and will continue to work in all the institutions until justice is done: "It would be incomprehensible for the government to turn a deaf ear to these requests and not to take action on them," he added.