The body of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco will be exhumed on June 10 and buried in Madrid with his wife

The Spanish government has decided that the remains of the dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975) are exhumed on June 10 of the Monument to the valley of the dead and buried in a cemetery in the city of El Pardo (Madrid).

The procedure will be carried out without communication or image, nor public announcement of the exhumation of the remains of the victim. general, who ruled Spain between 1939 and 1975, announced the Vice President of the Executive, the Socialist Carmen Calvo, at the conclusion of the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers.

This is not a "show," said Calvo, and in any case, parents will be able to attend the exhumation and subsequent burial.

Franco He was buried in the Basilica of the Valley of the Dead, a monument he had built 50 kilometers from Madrid and where are also the remains of thousands of fighters on both sides of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939 ).

The Spanish Supreme Court (TS) is considering an appeal filed a few days ago by the dictator's family against the government's decision to exhume human remains and transfer them out of the valley of the dead.

As family members have requested, the High Court has not yet decided on the preventative paralysis of any exhumation maneuver pending its final pronouncement.

Before appealing, the grandchildren of Franco – their nearest relatives alive – warned by letter from the government that they considered "null and void" the agreement of the Council of Ministers last February for which they had a period of 15 days to determine a new place for the burial of his grandfather.

The government agreement specifically excluded the crypt of Almudena Cathedral, in the center of Madrid, as the possible location of the remains for reasons of "public order" and to avoid any tribute to the dictator.

But the parents insisted that this is where they want to be buried again, if justice dictates that the remains must leave the valley of the dead.

The executive had established that it would unilaterally determine the final place of burial of Franco if the family has not agreed to fix an alternative place to the cathedral.

In fact The government sets the date of the exhumation without waiting for the TS to cautiously suspend the transfer of human remains, while admitting that it can be postponed if the court rescinds or suspends the decision of the government. ;executive.

Calvo insisted that the government respect and comply with what the courts decide: "How can it be otherwise?"

Regarding the future of the Valley of the Dead, said that "emergency" is now the transfer, and that steps are being taken to make it a place of "respect, rest and remembrance "for the more than 30,000 victims who are buried there.

Regarding the date chosen for the exhumation on June 10, she argued that she was far from the next two elections in Spain: April 28 (general elections) and May 26 (regional, municipal and European).

In addition, it allows "to ensure effective judicial protection" and is the culmination of the proceedings initiated last August, added the vice president.

According to the executive, the Mingorrubio-El Pardo cemetery, where the wife of FrancoCarmen Polo (1900-1988), allows "to guarantee at the same time the conditions of dignity and respect and the dignified burial required."

In El Pardo, on the outskirts of Madrid, is the palace where he lived Franco until his death and which today serves as residence to foreign heads of state during their official visit to Spain.