The exhumations of Primo de Rivera, Moscardó and Milans del Bosch pending issues of the Memory Law for 2023

The Government must also decide on the future of the monks of the Valley of the Fallen and whether to outlaw foundations

MADRID, 8 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Democratic Memory Law approved last October at the behest of the Government that forms PSOE and Unidas Podemos maintains several issues to be resolved that should foreseeably be unblocked throughout 2023, among which the exhumations of the founder of the Falange, José Antonio Primo, stand out. de Rivera, and the military José Moscardó and Jaime Milans del Bosch.

It also remains to be determined what will be the future of the congregation of Benedictine monks who reside in the Valley of the Fallen, which was officially renamed Valle de Cuelgamuros since the entry into force of the new norm. Likewise, the Government must decide if it undertakes the illegalization of organizations such as the Franco Foundation by virtue of the application of the law.

Regarding the Valley of the Fallen, the Executive has already announced that it was resuming work to exhume 118 victims of the Civil War, after the stoppage caused by the precautionary measures imposed by Court No. 10 of Madrid before the various appeals presented.

The Ministry of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory, led by Félix Bolaños, announced in December that work was resumed from National Heritage, since the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid had lifted the precautionary measures and that the City Council of San Lorenzo del Escorial admitted that he had no jurisdiction to suspend the building permit.

The remains of Primo de Rivera still rest in the Valle crypt, despite the fact that his family anticipated the entry into force of the Law of Memory and asked the abbot and the Community of Madrid to exhume his remains before the place becomes in civil cemetery. The family then reported that they had also requested the corresponding licenses from the San Lorenzo del Escorial City Council to transfer the mortal remains, but the permit has not yet been granted.

On the contrary, those that were removed from the Macarena basilica in Seville are the remains of General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano --who participated in the coup d'état of 1936-- and of the war auditor Francisco Bohórquez, thanks to the request made by the Central Government. The Memory Law prohibits the presence of the remains of leaders of the coup in prominent places with public access.

Due to this same provision of the norm, it is yet to be decided whether General José Moscardó and Lieutenant General Jaime Milans del Bosch should follow the same path, since both remain buried in the tomb of the Alcázar de Toledo along with approximately 200 other bodies.

All of them were part of the total of 1,785 people who remained locked inside the Alcazar of Toledo for 68 days in 1936, until the rebel troops entered the city in one of the most symbolic deeds of the Civil War for the Francoist army.

Moscardó was then a colonel and the highest military authority in Toledo as director of the Central Gymnastics School, while Milans del Bosch was only 21 years old during the siege. He is known, however, for joining Antonio Tejero's coup attempt from Valencia in 1981.

The one who must make a decision is the Ministry of Defense, currently responsible for the management of the Alcázar, headquarters of the Army museum, and has created a committee in charge of studying the application of the Memory Law in all headquarters and barracks of the Forces Armed.

For the moment, no progress has been reported in the process and the minister of the sector, Margarita Robles, indicated in November that any action would not be immediate since the law contemplates the hearing of the affected parties, which would lengthen the process.

The Law of Memory establishes that the mortal remains of "leaders" of the military coup of 1936 may not remain buried "in a preeminent place of public access" that could favor "the performance of public acts of exaltation, exaltation or commemoration of violations of human rights committed during the War or the Dictatorship".

Currently, the crypt of the Alcázar is closed to the public and does not fall within the route of the Army Museum. The relatives of those buried there can only access at certain times when the museum is closed.

In 2018, before the approval of the current Memory Law, the Government already denied that there was any public exaltation related to the soldiers buried in the Alcázar, given that the crypt is not one of the spaces included in the museological discourse of space.

Regarding the congregation of Benedictine monks residing in the Valley, the Government has to approve a royal decree that will establish the new legal framework applicable to the Cuelgamuros Valley, will determine its organization and operation and will order, among other things, whether the monks can remain Or they must leave the place.

The Executive intends to approve this royal decree "as quickly as possible," according to sources from the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory to Europa Press shortly after the law came into force. Therefore, it is conceivable that this issue could be resolved in the coming months.

In addition, the Democratic Memory Law opens the door to outlawing foundations that advocate the coup d'état of 1936 and the Franco dictatorship or exalt their leaders, "with contempt and humiliation of the dignity of the victims of the coup d'état, the war or Francoism" or make "direct or indirect incitement to hatred or violence against them", according to the law.

It is the Executive that must take the initiative and request the extinction of a foundation, specifically the Protectorate of Foundations, a body dependent on the Ministry of Culture and Sports. On its side, the judicial body may agree to suspend activities until a sentence is handed down or take precautionary measures.

One of the possible affected, the Francisco Franco National Foundation, suspects that the Government will try to outlaw it in the face of the 2023 electoral processes, according to what its president Juan Chicharro transferred to Europa Press shortly after the law came into force.

As reported at that time, he believes that the Executive "will make a move when it is interested", and will use "the Franco wild card", as he described it, before the next regional and municipal elections that are going to be held in May or before the general ones end of year