Spain: Franco exhumation suspended
June 4, 2019
General Franco's remains are to stay where they are after the Supreme Court halted proceedings to exhume the dictator's body.
Judges suspended the exhumation until after they have ruled on an appeal by Franco's family to block the government's decision to move the tomb.
Read More: Franco homage to be dropped from Spanish town
The court said in a statement that it had "decided unanimously" to put a temporary stop to the exhumation to avoid "harm" should the remains need to be returned to their original resting place.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wanted to move Franco on June 10 from his current resting place at the Valley of the Fallen to a public cemetery near Madrid.
Sanchez's socialist government (PSOE) said Spain could not "continue to glorify" the former dictator and that they were "convinced" that the court will turn down the appeal when it gives its eventual verdict "in the coming months."
Family lawyer seeks dignity
However, Luis Felipe Utrera, an attorney for Franco's family, said: "The government wanted to move Franco's body as if it was a piece of furniture," adding that PSOE was acting "out of a political motivation."
The Valley of the Fallen, a mausoleum run by the Catholic Church, has become synonymous with right-wing demonstrators who have used the setting to air their political views. It was built at the behest of Franco between 1940 and 1959, using forced labor by some 20,000 political prisoners.
Read more: Spanish parliament suspends jailed Catalan MPs
The site is also the resting place of approximately 37,000 people who fought for Franco's nationalist army and the opposing Republican forces during the Spanish civil war from 1936 to 1939.
jsi/xx (AFP, Reuters, AP)
Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.