They exhumed the remains of dictator Franco in Spain – News

The remains of Franco have already been captured in the valley of the dead and are transported by helicopter to the Mingorrubio cemetery of Madrid, in the district El Pardo, where they will be exhumed after a mass.

This decision, which has great repercussions and historical significance, comes at a time when right-wing activists are greatly exalted by the escalation of the secessionist conflict in Catalonia, where mass protests and outbreaks of violence occur. the severe sentences of up to 13 years in prison imposed by the Spanish Supreme Court on the leaders of the secession process that failed in 2017.

The operation was put in place with strong security measures and the authorities vetoed the concentration operations convened by the Franco Foundation and the Roots Historical Memory Claim Association, both on the far right, in the El Pardo-Mingorrubio cemetery.

They have barely been allowed to see the footage of the moment the hearse moves the dictator's casket to the helicopter. You can also see the arrival of the coffin on his new burial ground, a pantheon in which the remains of his wife, Carmen Polo, have been found since his death in 1998.

Some 22 parents of the dictator – grandchildren and great-grandchildren – will participate in the exhumation act, which the Spanish government intends to develop, as far as possible, with a maximum of "discretion" and of "dignity with human remains".

Family members and everyone involved in the process must go through a scanner to prevent them from entering with devices – phones or cameras – with which they can immortalize the historic moment of exhumation.

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FAMILY DICTADOR GRITA "VIVA ESPAÑA, VIVA FRANCO!"
The law on historical memory prohibits "acts of a political nature or exaltations of the civil war, its protagonists or Franco" (Article 15.1).pic.twitter.com/UuOkiTN6xF

– Javier Ruiz (@Ruiz_Noticias) October 24, 2019

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The authorities have covered the area in which the exhumation work will be carried out with a tent accessible only by all operators. A member of the dictator's family, his grandson José Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiu, accompanied by the Minister of Justice of Spain, Dolores Delgado, who will be present as a major notary of the Kingdom of Spain, responsible for overseeing the procedure. The prior of the valley, Santiago Cantera, who will bless the body of Franco at the request of his relatives, will also be present.

The remains of Franco were inside a pit about 2 meters deep covered with a 1,500-kilogram concrete slab, which had to be removed with the help of A crane. The coffin was lifted by ropes and cables.

The dictator will be buried in the crypt where his wife is, a few meters from other personalities of the Franco regime, including his last two presidents of the government, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, killed by the Basque separatist organization ETA in 1973, and Carlos Arias Navarro, who announced his death on November 20, 1975.

Franco is the last dictator of Europe whose remains rest in a public pantheon where he could be revered. Starting tomorrow, it will not be like that anymore. Those who want to visit it will have to go to Mingorrubio, a place with dark references not only for the Spaniards. There is also the tomb of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo Molina, one of the bloodiest of Latin America.