In Spain, the body of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the fascist Falange movement that supported the Franco regime, was removed from the mausoleum in the Valley of the Fallen in Madrid. The funeral of the politician and soldier, son of dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, will be taken to the San Isidro cemetery in the Spanish capital, upon the will of his relatives. Following the exhumation of dictator Francisco Franco in 2019, Primo de Rivera’s exhumation is part of a plan to transform the Valley of the Fallen complex, built by Franco to honor those who were martyred in our “glorious crusade”. A 150-metre stone cross erected in memory of the 500,000 people killed during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.
This operation is being carried out under the new law of “democratic memory” where no one can remain buried in a “highlight” of the Valley of the Fallen, which came into force in 2022 and has been officially renamed the Valley of the Cuelgamuros (original name of the site), as a symbol of Franco’s dictatorship. since it is accepted. The law also reveals that the mausoleum, where thousands of people who died during the Civil War and dictatorship were buried in mass graves, must be “redefined” as a site of historical memory to “reinforce constitutional and democratic values”. “No person or ideology that evokes dictatorships should be honored or glorified there,” Presidential Minister Felix Bolanos said on Friday, adding that the excavation is “another step towards re-meaning the valley.”
José Antonio, son of Miguel Primo de Rivera, the dictator who ruled Spain from 1923 to 1930, was shot by leftist republican forces in Alicante in November 1936. His body will be buried for the fifth time and exhumed for the fourth time. In 1939, after resting in two different mass graves in Alicante, his coffin was transported 500 kilometers from the eastern coastal city to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a town near Madrid where the Spanish royals are buried. His remains were moved again after the completion of the Valle dei Caduti monument 20 years later and buried under the altar of the basilica, where Franco would join him on his death in 1975.
According to Franco’s biographer, the fascist dictator Paul Preston, Primo de Rivera, an enthusiastic playboy, liked each other very little. In the Preston biography, Franco allegedly sabotaged several attempts to arrange a rescue or prisoner exchange that would have saved Primo de Rivera’s life. His death allowed Franco to eliminate an opponent and take control of the Falangists, exposing them to a broader far-right movement that supported his dictatorship. The government is working on the mausoleum to gain access to the cellars where the remains of 34,000 people, many of whom were victims of the Franco regime, are buried anonymously, allowing families to identify relatives.
Source: Today IT

Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.