A year later, Francoist groups 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 gathered in the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid, the place chosen by Franco to make public appearances and harangue his supporters, on the occasion of the 20N, anniversary of the death of Franco dictator and José Antonio Primo de Rivera.
The event, called “in protest against the law on democratic memory”, was attended by a minority. In the square, there were more tourists than Franco supporters, but they closed the mobilization by singing “Face the sun”, with their arms raised. The cheers of Franco, the founder of Phalange or of the founder of Fuerza Nueva, Blas Piñar, were repeated throughout the day, which, as usual, served to take the symbols of the regime into the streets and to wave the flags of the eagle or that of the yoke and arrows.
Well before starting, several regulars of this type of event approach the two tables which frame, one on each side, the space of the square reserved for the event. Key rings, t-shirts, calendars bearing Franco’s image, stickers and pre-constitutional flags or Vox lighters are some of the items displayed and sold at the two stands.
Once the rally began, several representatives of the Franco movement took turns for an hour and a quarter to give speeches in which the dictator was remembered and praised, and those who had fallen in love with God and Spain were “honored and honored “. the dictatorial regime that the country suffered “for almost 40 happy and prosperous years” was praised, in the words of José María Permuy, secretary general of the National Association of Victims of the Popular Front.
The interventions revolved around the figures of Franco and Primo de Rivera, whom they consider as “an example that can enlighten our activity to restore the Christian order in Spain, in Europe and in the world” and, in accordance with their usual rhetoric , they defined the 1936 coup as a “national uprising” carried out because Franco “had no choice.” References to “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 completed the theses.
“Where is the youth? He should be here,” one lady said to another, looking around. Some young people have come to the call, but the majority are older people. The group dwindled as it began to rain harder and harder in the capital. “We may seem few in number or that every year our presence diminishes, but there is no doubt that in Spain many good people are waking up who until now have been deceived and who are beginning to ask themselves: what if Franco was right ? was heard in one of the speeches.
Another key point of the interventions was the Law on Democratic Memory, considered “an attempt to criminalize” the ideas “of Generalissimo Franco and his regime”. Since the entry into force of the law, these groups have tended to contain the explicit reasons for their calls and summons. Indeed, the reason for this mobilization was precisely opposition to the norm, but symbols and speeches generally clarify ideas. that they intend to increase.
Permuy acknowledged that the law “prohibits the exaltation of Franco”, but “to the extent that it is associated with a lack of respect towards the alleged victims”, he argued in reference to “discredit, contempt or the humiliation of victims” which the norm requires punishing the acts. “We do not disrespect any victim, the proof 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 story which gives an idyllic account of the mausoleum. and it ignores how the Republicans were buried there without the knowledge of their families, who continue to attempt to recover their remains today.
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 been coming one after the other for several days, starting with the twenty masses “for the soul” of Franco organized in different cities and the Friday evening demonstration in Madrid called by the Spanish Phalanx of Rushes, in which around 600 people participated according to Delegation figures government.
The protest, which left the headquarters of the PP in Genoa to reach the headquarters of the PSOE in Ferraz, is in the crosshairs of the government, which has begun to collect information with the aim of determining whether it violated the law on democratic memory, reports EFE. Thus, the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory will request data from the Government Delegation to decide whether or not to open a sanction file, as has already happened for a similar mobilization in 2022. For the moment, it This has become the only sanction imposed by the Executive under the new regulations.
