Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S Democratic Memory law was enacted on Friday allowing relatives of General Francisco Franco’s victims to find out what happened to them.
At least 114,000 people ‘disappeared’ during the dictator’s iron-fisted rule of Spain between the late thirties and his death in 1975.
The new law hit the statute book when it was published in the State Gazette.
“Citizens have an inalienable right to understand the historical truth about the violence and terror imposed by the Franco regime, as well as the values and acts of democratic resistance,” the Gazette stated.
A national DNA database will be created to try to identify bodies of people in around 3,000 documented mass graves.
33 aristocratic titles handed out by Franco to family members and supporters have been scrapped.
Five of the titles were bestowed by King Juan Carlos after Franco’s death.
The move affects two of Franco’s grandchildren, as well as the descendants of several of his top generals, ministers and other high-ranking officials.
The Valley of the Fallen mausoleum, constructed by mainly forced labour, has now changed its name to the Valley of Cuelgamuros.
Right-wing leaders will be exhumed from the site- as was Franco three years ago- with only victims of the Civil War allowed to remain there.
READ MORE:
- Spain’s Prado Museum pledges to return artworks that were stolen during the Civil War and Franco dictatorship
- Spain’s solicitor general takes legal action against Franco family in bid to take ownership of assets in summer home
- Spain’s government tries to overturn new Murcia airport name over link to General Franco
- Army captain in Spain faces sack for ordering soldiers to kneel outside General Franco mausoleum
