Mausoleums of Terror forces us to a complex and
obligatory action to combine dignity, experience and The complex is built on an artificial elevation two
learning. In the following text I offer a very brief metres high with respect to the level of the adjacent
summary of the two working documents on these streets and squares. The aim of this prominence is
huge mausoleums, one carried out in 2017 and the to raise the complex and turn it into a monumental
other in 2018. landmark in the landscape; as well as to host
specific underground uses such as the crypt of the
The Fallen in Pamplona
monument itself and its access corridors from the
side buildings. In this sense, it is worth highlighting
The current question is what to do with the the enormous complexity of the architectural
monument and this question is presented as a new programme in terms of the accesses and uses of the
municipal and urban project after the removal of the different levels of the monument (terrace - dome,
bodies of the two general leaders of the coup d’état balconies, basilica, underground passages and crypt).
which took place in July 1936 - these were Mola
and Sanjurjo (the third, as we have pointed out was The actions carried out by the City Council of
Franco himself). Pamplona with respect to such an enormous
mausoleum, initially involve the elimination of all
The monument, unlike Cuelgamuros, is located at the Francoist symbols and the movement of bodies in
heart of the city of Pamplona; it is articulated as a an attempt to resignify the Francoist monument.
hierarchical element at a symbolic, social and urban Therefore, the following actions were taken:
level, making use of recognisable main references
(such as Les Invalides of Paris and Saint Peter of
the demystification of the Crypt through the
the Vatican). A large dome surrounded by porticoes exhumation of the remains of Generals Mola, Sanjurjo
with columns that develops a classic but austere and the soldiers.
architecture language. Should the society be asked
the amendment of the nomenclature not without some
-as we randomly did while we carried out the project- conflicts and ambiguities. In 2017, the former Plaza
most of the answers would state that the building Conde de Rodezno was given the name of Plaza de la
was -or is- a basilica or church of neoclassical style Libertad (the two names still coexist in Google maps
and more or less from the 19th century. This lack of and other sources consulted).
awareness must be reduced by the project.
the symbolism of Franco inside and outside the
monument was provisionally covered with the
The scale of the building stands out, giving rise exception of the Catholic and Carlist texts, symbology
to an out-of-proportion object with respect to its and iconography.
immediate and periurban environment that imposes
itself on the city.
the attempt to use the space as an Exhibition Hall,
currently without programming.
From its original conception, it defines a situation of Our new proposal and the opinion of many victims’
a full stop (backdrop) of an area with clear limits: the associations goes beyond the actions we consider
end of the avenue Carlos III el Noble, one of the most necessary and laudable after 40 years of dictatorship
important streets of the 2º Ensanche of Pamplona. and 40 years of democracy in transition. Don’t forget
Its dome, covered with slate, rises to become a that Franco’s regime in Navarre was imposed from
singular landmark in the landscape -also by means July 1936, that is to say, there was no Civil War, but a
of its night-time illumination- from considerable direct and immediate repression, where almost 4000
distances such as the Plaza del Castillo itself, one people were murdered.
kilometre to the Northwest.
It’s not easy to resignify so much barbarism. The
bold proposal should create spaces for research, in
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Observing Memories
ISSUE 2