This article is more than 2 years old. Government says transfer of body to municipal cemetery will occur as soon as possible. Franco ruled Spain from his victory in the civil war until his death in The burial place of Spain's fascist dictator General Francisco Franco has been the subject of fierce debate for decades. But the final chapter in this long saga is approaching. The government says Franco's remains will be exhumed on Thursday and moved to a cemetery in Madrid.
But why were there calls for Franco's remains to be moved in the first place? And why has the issue proved so controversial? Franco ruled Spain from until his death in He was buried in a mausoleum called the Valley of the Fallen, just outside Madrid.
But that site has become a shrine for the far right and is loathed by many Spaniards. Spain's Socialist government plans to move Franco's remains next to his wife's grave in a cemetery in Madrid.
The exhumation is likely to last about three hours. The remains will probably be transferred by helicopter to avoid any protests. Franco's family and his far-right supporters tried in vain to block the government's plan. Franco won Spain's s civil war, which was started when he rebelled against the elected leftist government. He established a dictatorship and proclaimed himself head of state. He maintained a tight grip on power until his death in , after which Spain transitioned to democracy.
Democracy is well established now, but the Franco era still haunts Spain. There was an unwritten "pact of forgetting" during the democratic transition and statues of Franco were removed and streets were renamed.
Last month, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Franco's family against the exhumation. It also dismissed a proposal for an alternative site. The family, who did not want him moved at all, preferred for him to lie in a family crypt in the Almudena Cathedral - in the centre of the capital.
But the government argued that the former dictator should not be placed anywhere where he could be glorified. It also said there were potential security issues with the cathedral site.
Though democracy is well established now, many believe the country has never faced up to its fascist past. There was an unwritten "pact of forgetting" during the transition. An Amnesty Law adopted in prevents any criminal investigation into the Franco years. Statues of Franco were removed and many streets were renamed.
A Historical Memory Law, passed in by the socialist government at the time, recognised the war victims on both sides and provided some help for surviving victims of Franco's dictatorship and their families. But the work to locate and rebury thousands of civil war dead has been slow and controversial. More than , victims of the conflict, and the ferocious repression carried out afterwards, are still missing. Spanish court backs dictator Franco's exhumation. Spain paves way to remove Franco remains.
Spain far right protest at Franco tomb. Spain exhumes bodies at Franco-era shrine. Franco victim's daughter prises open past. The battle to strip Franco family of dictator's summer palace. After his coffin was extracted from under marble slabs and two tons of granite, a brief prayer was said in line with a request from Franco's family.
The dictator's body was then carried out of the mausoleum, and is to be taken by helicopter or by hearse to Mingorrubio cemetery where his wife is buried - a kilometer mile drive away. In a bid to guarantee privacy and avoid the actual exhumation operation being videoed and posted on social media, the government banned cameras and mobile phones among the 22 Franco family members, government authorities and workers allowed into the mausoleum.
Fearing disturbances, the government banned a demonstration against the exhumation by Franco supporters at the Mingorrubio cemetery although some people, some waving Franco-era flags and symbols and chanting "Viva Franco" gathered near the cemetery while police looked on.
Today our democracy is more perfect. According to the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais, it's a major moment for the country: "Spain finishes with the last major symbol of the dictatorship," it said in its main headline to its print edition Thursday. The exhumation and reburial will not put an end to Franco's legacy on Spain's political scene, since it comes just weeks ahead of the country's Nov.
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