Spain's Socialist Government to Dig Up Francisco Franco's Grave

Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that the remains of dictator Francisco Franco should be exhumed.

It backed the Socialist government's plan to move the remains from a state mausoleum to a less controversial site.

An appeal by Franco's family against the exhumation and proposing an alternative site was rejected.

The issue has divided opinion in Spain, which remains haunted by the Franco era. He won the 1930s civil war and went on to rule Spain until 1975.

In a unanimous ruling, the court said it had decided to "completely reject the appeal lodged by the family in relation to Francisco Franco's exhumation".

In a tweet (in Spanish), Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed the decision as a "great victory for democracy".

The government argued that the former dictator should not be placed anywhere where he could be glorified.

Franco’s exhumation tends to divide Spaniards along party lines. A 2018 poll for Spanish daily El Mundo found that 62.6% of Socialist voters back the exhumation, compared to just 13.1% of supporters of the main centre-right Popular Party. Lawmakers of rightwing parties abstained from a vote to legalize the exhumation in 2018.

Santiago Abascal (VOX):
"Legal or not, the gov's intention is to desecrate tombs against family's wishes. We will always oppose digging up the dead and the hatred of the past. Let's look to the future because we love Spain & want harmony amongst Spaniards" https://t.co/xEkivvUx2a

— Spain's Memory Wars (@SpainMemoryWars) September 24, 2019

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— Derrick Lewis (@DerrickQLewis) August 14, 2017