Spain’s Congress recently passed the Law of Historical Memory, which for the first time officially condemns the mass executions and other crimes carried out during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the military dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1939-1975) that followed.
About 500,000 people were killed in the civil war, and an estimated 200,000 died during the dictatorship, the majority of whom still lie buried in unmarked mass graves.
The new law describes the crimes as unjust and the sentences of the courts and military tribunals as illegitimate. It offers redress to those “who suffered persecution or violence, for political or ideological reasons, during the Civil War or the Dictatorship” and facilitates the exhumation of the mass graves. It also calls for the removal of Francoist symbols from public buildings and prohibits political events at Franco’s mausoleum in the Valley of the Fallen. Spanish citizenship is offered to the grandchildren of those exiled during the dictatorship and to members of the International Brigades who went to fight against it.
After nearly three years delay, and with few commentators thinking it would go through before next March’s general elections, Congress passed the law by 184 votes to 137. …
“This is a very important moment for Spain,” said Emilio Silva, who heads the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory, “But this law is the beginning, not the end, and it is long overdue,” he added. …
The new law has been watered down in significant ways and makes major concessions to the right wing. Nevertheless, it does indeed shatter the so-called “consensus,” threatening to bring to the surface all the unresolved political problems of the civil war, the victory of the fascists and the ensuing decades of repression.
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