In late September, the Spanish Supreme Court unanimously passed a new ruling that would allow for the exhuming of the remains of former dictator Francisco Franco. Franco’s remains were located at a towering monument in Madrid’s outskirts, known as el Valle de los Caídos, or the Valley of the Fallen.

After a center-right coalition came to power winning the 1933 election, Franco deployed troops from Morocco to the Northern Spanish region of Asturias, where a leftist revolt broke. That encounter left over 4,000 dead. 

Once he came to power, Franco adopted the nickname El Caudillo, The Leader under which he persecuted political opponents, literary figures and poets of the time whom opposed his political views and standards. Street violence, political killings and general disorder had become second nature.

Some of these managed to flee to countries such as France, where they were off fascist Franco’s radar. Some, unfortunately, were caught and executed.

Francisco Franco rose to power during the Spanish Civil War, between 1936 and 1939 with the help of Nazi Germany, ruled by Adolf Hitler and fascist Italy, under Benito Mussolini.

On July 18, 1936, military personnel initiated an uprising that allowed them to gain control over Spain’s Western region.

During that time, Franco’s duty was to bring the troops located in Morocco back to the Spanish mainland. Such political chain of events allowed Franco to join forces with Italy’s Mussolini and Germany’s Hitler. Hence, the Spanish Civil War began in 1936. The warlike conflict lasted until the year 1939, leaving thousands dead and many others missing. However, Spain remained neutral during World War II.

During his time, Franco repressed the Catalan and Basque language and culture, censored the media of the time, and eventually took over the country as a whole.

El Valle de los Caídos was built between 1940 and 1958 by thousands of his political prisoners. Although the monument was meant to pay tribute to all the victims of the Spanish Civil War, many see it as a fascist memorial to only the victors of the war.

On Oct. 24, 2019, Franco’s remains were finally exhumed, bringing closure to the families of those affected by such a horrendous tragedy. While this has been a controversy for many decades, the families affected by such tragedy can now find some peace.

When Interim Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took office, he promised to pass legislation that would to bring the Franco period of Spanish history to an end.

After 44 years of suffering by many Spanish families their worries are behind them with Franco now laid to rest in a cemetery in Northern Madrid. While this is a huge step forward, the next step should be to recover and identify the many that were buried in communal graves during the outbreak of the Civil War. After Cambodia, Spain has the second-highest number of mass graves. This should be considered a defeat for fascist Spaniards who are at the point of no return.  

Photo from Wikimedia Commons