Isha Sesay
THE renaming of streets linked to dictator Francisco Franco in Palma de Mallorca has been put on hold.
The capital’s City Council had intended to wipe out the memory of Franco by renaming 12 streets at a cost of €40,000.
However, the project received heavy criticism from historical experts who accused the council of ‘mistreating history’, formally requested a review to be conducted on the matter.
These experts raised concerns that some of the chosen streets had no connotations to Franco and instead to other important events in history – such as Carrer Gabriel Rabassa and Carrer Toledo.
In the case of the latter, the mayor of Toledo even vented his anger to Palma mayor Jose Hila over Twitter about the street being wiped off the map.
He said: “Toledo is a World Heritage City and I have proposed that it continues to have a street named after it in the Balearic capital.”
The reviewal request was today granted by Hila who admitted that: “the council and I are not perfect and in politics, mistakes can happen.”
Earlier this week, Hila had said at a press conference to announce the changes that ‘erasing Franco’s heritage from the streets was not only a legal obligation, but also a moral obligation towards his victims.’
