What does Franco's reburial signify?
Next week the remains of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975) are to be exhumed and removed to another site. With this move the Socialists (PSOE) want to deprive the Valle de los Caídos burial site of its status as a place of pilgrimage for right-wing extremists. Spain's media discuss the consequences.
The page must be turned
Finally a step has been taken towards putting Francoism truly behind us, eldiario.es comments jubilantly:
“Sánchez will do what no PSOE leader before him has dared to do if he manages to form a government after 10 November, because he will change the law on the culture of remembrance. This comprehensive reform will also apply to the penal code: glorification of Franco and humiliation of the victims of the dictatorship will then be punished with imprisonment. ... And it will pave the way for associations or foundations that act as apologists for the dictatorship to be declared illegal. It's high time this was done. Spain won't be able to turn the page on the Franco period until this is done.”
Franco's curse will fall upon them all
El Mundo, on the other hand, complains that the Socialists are trying to rewrite history in their favour:
“What comes next after they've removed Franco? The Valle de los Caídos will probably be given a new interpretation. ... Apart from blowing up the cross, some have proposed the creation of a centre for interpreting (or rather reinterpreting) the dictatorship. This would exclude the civil war, of course. ... The rest we can imagine. There will only be one side of history left. The idiots will be satisfied. They will all be struck by Franco's curse.”