A WAR memorial faces a fresh future after remains of spanish fascists were exhumed.

Monumento a los Caidos in Pamplona
Monumento a los Caidos in Pamplona

The controversial Monumento a los Caidos in Pamplona could become a ‘historical memory centre’ now that the bones of nine military leaders have been removed.

Generals Emilio Mola and José Sansurjo, whose forces were responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, were amongst those recently dug out from the building’s crypts.

The Navarre city’s government took the action at the building, which is officially named Navarra a sus Muertos en la Cruzada, to meet requirements from a 2007 law.

It called for the removal of monuments, street and place names that glorify the Francoist 1936 rebellion against the Republican government.

The controversial edifice, which lies in Plaza de la Libertad, was constructed in 1942 to remember fallen fascists from the area and contains lists of the war dead.

The remains of the military personnel were given back to their families for private burial.

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13 COMMENTS

  1. While I appreciate the idea that the fascist leaders must not remain burried at Los Caidos, I also appreciate to stick to the truth: General Sansuro had been the designated leader of the fascist military coup, but he got no chance to become “responsible for the deaths of thousands of people”, as he was killed by an air crash on the first day of the rebellion when he tried to fly from his exile in Portugal to the fascist headquarter at Burgos. In those days the insurgent generals got the impression that their military coup would replace another clique at the head of the state by their own clique – business as usual in Spain. They did not expect that their insurrection marked the start of a bloody, long running war. Ironically, Sansuros airplane crashed because it was overloaded by his parade uniforms which he intended to wear at his proclamation as the next Spanish president on the coming day at Burgos.

  2. I would also like to add, Franco´s regime does not conform to the concept of fascism, since the creation of a strong middle class, as far as I know, is not a fascist ideal. Some people obsessions in linking Hitler with Franco is biased history, I believe.

      • I belive based in gathered knowledge, look fascism up in a dicctionary, the only proper fascists are the italian, the word was used in Germany for using similar methods and maybe the first falangist when Jose Antonio was organizing his party, nothing to do with Franco.

        • Oh dear zabaot. “Two wrongs make a right”? Amazing that Guernica (and Durango) can now be included in the great, cowardly “forgetting”.
          You really maintain that it cannot be proved that the incendiary explosives rained from Luftwaffe planes? And that Franco organised it? Increible!

          • I wasn´t there, so mantaining is out of the question. The Basque country was resisting the Nationals and Guernica was in the way to Bilbao (30Km). General Mola was in charge of the land operations and Gral. Kinderland of the air raids. Guernica was bombarded by the legión Condor, the italians and other planes. Franco knew for sure but decissions were taken by the “plana mayor”. Dead were calculated at most in the low hundreds, compare that with Dresden.

    • I agree with you,Zabaot.

      The principal characteristic of a fascist regime is that the state is governed exclusively by a fascist party. In Spain, the fascist party was Falange,but it is was integrated ,by order of Franco, in the leading party of the state called El Movimiento Nacional, composed by Falange, the Carlist party, the supporters of the monarchy, etc.

    • Dresden was bombarded the previous three weeks to the surrendering which consisted in someone raising a white flag one week after Hitler supposed suicide. The Lufwafe had been neutralized months before and thats I am refering to.

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