The Supreme Court of Spain recently ruled in favour of the government’s plan to exhume the remains of former dictator Francisco Franco.
After his death in 1975, Spain transitioned from the authoritarian structure to a constitutional monarchy.
What is the Spanish Civil War (1936-39)?
It is known as the ‘Guerra Civil’ in Spanish.
The conflict pitted Spain’s democratically elected Republican government against forces led by General Francisco Franco, who seized power in 1939 after three years of brutal warfare.
Supporters - Franco was supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, as well as by conservative elements within Spain.
The Republican government was helped by the Soviet Union and by volunteer forces from democratic countries in Europe and the US.
The major European democracies of the time, Britain and France, shied from helping Spain’s Republican government officially.
The Civil War is thus regarded by many as one of the key harbingers of World War II.
How was Franco’s rule (1939-1975)?
After becoming Spain’s ruler in 1939, Franco maintained the country’s neutrality in World War II but remained friendly with the Axis powers that had helped him come to power.
Franco’s initial years in office were especially repressive.
Thousands of political opponents were sent to prison by military tribunals, and executions by firing squads took place.
He prohibitedthepublic use of regional languages such as Catalan and Basque.
Catholic Christianity was the declared state religion.
Trade unions were banned. Divorce and abortion were also forbidden.
Towards the end of his rule, Franco relaxed his grip on power, and his anti-communist stance brought him closer to the US and its allies during the Cold War.
The last two decades of his rule saw an overhaul of Spain’s economy.
In 1969, Franco declared the exiled royal Juan Carlos I as his official successor upon his death.
Juan Carlos I dismantled Spain’s authoritarian structure after taking over in 1975 and restored Spain to a constitutional monarchy.
Why the exhumation of Franco’s remains is to be done?
After his death in 1975, Franco was buried at the Valle de los Caídos, a state mausoleum.
It was built during his rule using forced labour and where 33,000 victims of the Spanish Civil War are buried.
In the years since, as democracy grew stronger in Spain, calls to relocate the dictator’s remains to a less honorific place arose.
2018 - The Spanishparliament agreed to exhume Franco’s remains.
But the government’s plans were impeded by protests from the former dictator’s family as well as by church authorities.
2019 - The Supreme Court’s decision has now cleared most obstacles in the government’s path, and the Catholic Church has agreed to abide by the ruling.
What does this move mean politically?
The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), which is running Spain’s minority government, plans to relocate Franco’s remains to a less high profile location before the next general election in November 2019.
The move could improve the PSOE’s fortunes in the elections.
It could invigorate Spain’s far-right, for whom Franco’s mausoleum has become a rallying point.
In the last election in April 2019, the ultra-nationalist party obtained 10% of the popular vote, a first for the ultra-right since Franco’s death.
