He Congress Plenary approved this Tuesday the consideration of the bill of PSOE who reforms the Law regulating the right of association so that the entities that praise Francoism and humiliate its victims can be dissolved, a process that can be initiated at the request of the prosecutor’s office and carried out only through judicial resolution.
The initiative’s handling was supported by the entire chamber, except for Vox, the only group that voted against it. He PP also supported her despite the fact that during the debate she had accused the PSOE to use dictator Francisco Franco like a “joker”.
Even if the Government’s partners voted in favor of the procedure, several of them announced that they would present amendments because they believe that the rule should be more ambitious. In addition, MRC And Together They wonder if it can be applied, because it leaves the dissolution of these associations in the hands of the courts.
With this initiative, the socialists respect the seventh additional provision of the Democratic Memory Lawwhich dates back to October 2022, and which already provided for the modification of the law on associations in this direction.
One year late
But the reform arrives a year late since it should have been promoted no later than October 2023, i.e. twelve months after the law came into force. Law of Memory. In order to speed up its approval, the socialists chose to promote the reform through a bill rather than a government bill.
The PSOE proposal, collected by Europa Press, consists of the inclusion of an additional provision in the aforementioned norm to include as a cause of dissolution “the carrying out of activities that constitute an apology for Francoism”.
The future standard will specify that these apologies can be produced “either by praising the 1936 coup d’état or the dictatorship that followed, or by exalting its leaders, when there is contempt and humiliation of the dignity of victims of the coup.” of 1936, the Spanish Civil War or the Franco regime, or direct or indirect incitement to hatred or violence against them because of their status as such.”
By judicial resolution
This provision specifies that the dissolution must be pronounced by judicial decision and that it will correspond to the Ministry of Finance “the exercise of action in this type of process”.
Furthermore, the PSOE bill specifies that the reason for dissolution will be applied regardless of the theoretical objectives and activities stated in the statutes and whether or not the association in question has fulfilled the registration obligation, since it is intended for advertising purposes. only.
During the debate, some parties like Pictures and the BNG They demanded that steps be taken now to also dissolve foundations like the one named after Francisco Franco. From the Ministry of Culture, which directs Ernest Urtasunsteps have already been taken in this direction.
The hypotheses for which we would advocate the extinction of associations or foundations like the one mentioned are the same and the difference is that, in the case of associations, the process would be initiated by the Protectorate dependent on the Ministry of Culture and in this sense associations As proposed in the PSOE bill, this task will fall to the public prosecutor. Of course, in both cases, the final decision will be made by a judge.
