DIGGING UP FRANCO

THE NATIONAL parliament was set to approve the exhumation of the remains of fascist dictator Francisco Franco yesterday (Thursday), as Costa Blanca News went to press.

The former head of state is buried in the valley of the fallen (Valle de los Caídos) – a vast monument outside Madrid which Franco had built using slave labour from the Spanish Republican army following their defeat in the Civil War in 1939.

Many of the prisoners died during the construction work which saw a massive cavity blasted out of a wall of rock for the ‘tunnel’ basilica.

The initiative was brought to the national Congress by the Socialist party (PSOE) under the wing of the Law of Historic Memory which was passed during the last decade.

This was designed to heal wounds from the Civil War and banish from public display anything which extolled the dictatorship, including statues, busts and street names.

One of the issues which remained unresolved was the valley of the fallen.

This was supposed to be a monument to all those who died in the Civil War, but in reality was a giant tomb for Franco and the founder of the fascist Falange party, José Antonio Primo de Rivera.

Yesterday a number of parties in parliament – including Unidos Podemos and Ciudadanos - had vowed to give their support to the initiative, which called on the government to exhume Franco and José Antonio and move the bodies from the basilica.

However, although the PSOE had enough votes to carry the motion, the ruling Partido Popular (PP) – which was founded by a former minister in Franco’s government –said it would not back it.

As a result, even though the initiative was set to be approved, it would be down to the PP to carry out the exhumations.

The PSOE motion also called for a report to be drawn up on all the work that was carried out by forced labour so plaques can be installed to remember those who suffered or died.

They also want a DNA bank to be set up to aid with the identification of soldiers buried in mass graves at the site.

In addition, all those who were condemned by military tribunals for fighting for the democratically elected Republican government should be exonerated.

After the war ended, Republican prisoners were drafted in to tunnel into the rocky mountainside in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

The monument was completed nearly two decades later in 1958.

The basilica extends for 262 metres into the hillside, with six chapels (three on each side) devoted to the Virgin Mary.

At the foot of the high altar is a crypt that houses the tombs of Franco and José Antonio.

More than 30,000 soldiers, both Nationalist and Republican, are believed to be buried in the walls of the basilica and the hillside around it.

The 150-metre-high Holy Cross above the site is one of the largest in the world.