They removed the last statue of Franco that remained in …

The city of Melilla removed the last statue of the dictator that remained standing on Spanish territory, although there are no more images of Franco on the public roads of the European continent, since Melilla, along with Ceuta, are the only Spanish autonomous cities installed in the North. Africa.

The initiative had the support of the three parties that make up the local government (Coalition for Melilla, PSOE and Citizens), and of the deputy Jesús Delgado, a former member of the extreme right VOX, who today has no group parliamentary. Indeed, VOX voted against, while the People’s Party abstained.

After the official initiative was approved, a group of workers secured the statue with a harness suspended from a crane and cut into the concrete and brick base, where three commemorative plaques were located. After removing it from its site, the statue was taken in a truck to government facilities in the city of Melilla.

Melilla Prime Minister Eduardo De Castro considered removing the statue via his Twitter account, in which he noted that it was the only statue of the dictator left standing.

The removal of Franco’s images was ordered at the time by the Historical Memory Law, approved under the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in 2007. De Castro himself said at the local government meeting that his move should have been made “many years ago”. , so “he’s late”.

De Castro recalled that the removal of the statue coincided with the 40th anniversary of the failed coup of February 23, 1981, promoted by military elements nostalgic for Francoism. Indeed, during the removal of the monument, a Francoist sympathizer shouted “Long live the commander!”