One year more Franco groups have returned to one of the most symbolic places of the dictatorship to praise Francoism. Called by the Spanish Catholic Movement and Spanish Youth Action, several dozen people have gathered in Madrid’s Plaza de Oriente, a place chosen by Franco to make public appearances and harangue his supporters, on the occasion of 20N, the anniversary of Franco’s death. dictator and José Antonio Primo de Rivera.
The event, called “in protest of the Democratic Memory Law”, has been a minority. In the square there were more tourists than Francoists, but they closed the mobilization by singing ‘Face to the sun’ with their arms raised. The cheers for Franco, the founder of Falange or the founder of Fuerza Nueva, Blas Piñar, have been repeated throughout the day, which as usual has served to take the symbols of the regime to the streets and wave the eagle flags or that of the yoke and the arrows.
A long time before starting, several regulars at this type of demonstrations approach the two tables that flank, one on each side, the area of the plaza reserved for the event. Keychains, t-shirts, calendars with the image of Franco, stickers and pre-constitutional flags or Vox lighters are some of the items that are displayed and sold at the two stalls.
Once the rally began, several representatives of the Franco movement followed one another during the hour and a quarter that lasted to give speeches in which the dictator was evoked and praised, and those who had fallen for God and for Spain were “honored.” and the dictatorial regime that the country suffered “for almost 40 happy and prosperous years” has been praised, in the words of José María Permuy, Secretary General of the National Association of Victims of the Popular Front.
The interventions have revolved around the figures of Franco and Primo de Rivera, whom they consider “an example that can illuminate our activity to restore the Christian order in Spain, in Europe and in the world” and, in line with their usual rhetoric, they have defined the 1936 coup d’état as a “National Uprising” carried out because Franco “had no choice.” References to the “supposed” climate change and the hoax of the destruction of dams, to the “imposition of the 2030 Agenda” or to the “totalitarianism” of the Government of Pedro Sánchez have completed the dissertations.
“Where is the youth? It should be here,” says one lady to another, looking around. Some young people have come to the call, but the majority are older people. The group has been reducing as it began to rain more and more heavily in the capital. “We may seem few or that each year our presence is diminishing, but have no doubt that in Spain many good people are awakening who until now have been deceived and who are beginning to wonder: What if Franco was right?”, it has been heard. from one of the speeches.
Another of the key points of the interventions has been the Democratic Memory Law, considered “an attempt to criminalize” the ideas “of Generalissimo Franco and his regime.” Since the entry into force of the law, these groups tend to contain the explicit reasons for their calls and convocations, in fact, the reason for this mobilization was specifically the opposition to the norm, but the symbols and speeches usually make the ideas clear. that they intend to raise.
Permuy has recognized that the law “prohibits the exaltation of Franco”, but “as long as it is associated with a lack of respect for the alleged victims”, he argues in reference to the “discredit, contempt or humiliation of the victims” that the norm requires. to sanction acts. “We do not disrespect any victim, proof of this is that Franco wanted them to be buried together in the symbol of national reconciliation that is the Valley of the Fallen,” he continued in line with the narrative that makes an idyllic account of the mausoleum and that ignores how the Republicans were buried there without their families knowing, who today continue trying to recover their remains.
This Sunday is thus added to the battery of events called by the ultra movement and closes the week of the anniversary of the death of the dictator and Primo de Rivera, assassinated in 1936. The calls have taken place for several days since then, starting for the twenty masses “for the soul” of Franco held in different cities and the Friday night demonstration in Madrid called by the Spanish Falange of the Jons, which was attended by about 600 people according to figures from Government Delegation.
The protest, which started from the PP headquarters in Genoa to reach the PSOE headquarters in Ferraz, is in the crosshairs of the Government, which has begun collecting information with the aim of determining whether it breached the Democratic Memory Law. , reports EFE. Thus, the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory will request data from the Government Delegation to decide whether to open a sanctioning file, as already occurred for a similar mobilization in 2022. For now, this has become the only sanction imposed by the Executive under the new regulations.
Source: www.eldiario.es
