Call to exhume the body of Francisco Franco

A MEMBER of the PSOE socialist party in the Spanish Parliament (Cortes) has introduced a bill calling for the exhumation of Francisco Franco’s body.

The previous socialist government had a policy of reviewing the activities of the former Spanish leader and associates through its Historical Memory Act but once the PP came to power, it closed the Civil War and Dictatorship Victims Office and has not been overly critical of the former leader.

Now, this new, non-binding motion introduced by MP Gregorio Cámara is calling for the exhumation of Franco’s body from its current resting place in the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) and its reburial elsewhere.

In addition, it is also calling for the relocation of the remains of Falange founder and former dictator José Antonio Primo de Rivera to another spot within the compound.

All of the opposition parties and possibly Ciudadanos support this bill but it is firmly opposed by the ruling government.

Even if the bill passes, it can only be enacted if agreed to by the government of Mariano Rajoy as there is no money in the government budget specifically allocated to remove the bodies which would therefore allow an expected PP veto.

The point of the presentation of the bill is however to remind parliament and the Spanish people that there are still thousands of unidentified bodies in mass graves around the country which remain undiscovered.

The vote on this proposed bill is due to take place on Thursday May 11.