of Ex-Fighters , from Franco ’ s army ) along with Franco ’ s family , members of the military , former ministers and well-known figures in the regime such as Blas Piñar or José Antonio Girón presided over commemorative ceremonies to cries of Franco , Franco , Franco , singing of the Spanish Falange ’ s anthem Cara al Sol , and some violent acts in streets and bars in which bystanders were made to do the Fascist salute or sing the aforementioned anthem . At the gathering of 1976 , El País newspaper counted around a hundred thousand participants , a number that dropped to around six thousand in 1978 , one thousand five hundred in 1989 and the same number again in 2000 . Although the figures have fallen , these gatherings have not disappeared . They reflect the persistence of far-right groups in the Spanish political spectrum during the years of democracy .
The date of Franco ’ s death , which came to be known as 20-N , continued to be a key day for gatherings of the far right . The acts of homage to the dictator , which always culminated with a mass at the Valle de los Caídos and prayers in the military barracks , were transformed into a day of remembrance , but also a day of protest against the nascent democracy , lamentation for the disappearance of the dictator ’ s political legacy and criticism of the new historical phase that was beginning to open up cautiously . The gatherings always included a display of pro-Franco marketing , such as caps , kerchiefs , flags , medals , keyrings , calendars and framed photographs of Franco .
… to colour
With the arrival of the twenty-first century and the birth of the associative movement for the recovery of historical memory , the fate of the Valle de los Caídos was put on the discussion table . Franco was the only dictator whose remains had survived in a mausoleum in a democratic country . The mausoleum had been constructed to enshrine the values of the dictatorship and glorify Franco ’ s victory in the Civil War , the source of his legitimacy . He had died of old age , not killed in conflict , and his cadaver shared a burial place with the bodies of over thirty thousand people from the two armies that had fought in the war . The associations demanded an end to this painful situation in which victims were buried next to their main executioner . Political parties with parliamentary representation agreed to do something with the largest crypt in Europe . However , the decisions were postponed , especially during Mariano Rajoy ’ s term in office ( 2011-2018 ), as he rescinded the budget set aside for compliance with the Ley de Memoria Histórica ( Historical Memory Law , 2007 ).
The new president of the government since June 2018 , Pedro Sánchez , announced that one of his executive ’ s measures would be to exhume Franco from the Valle de los Caídos , to meet a democratic obligation that had been adopted years ago . In February 2019 , an order was approved to carry out the exhumation and transfer of the general ’ s body to a place chosen by his family . However , Franco ’ s grandchildren appealed , and the courts suspended the order . Finally , on 24 September , the Supreme Court endorsed the exhumation of Franco and his interment in the Mingorrubio cemetery , close to the Palace of El Pardo , which had been his usual residence . A month later , on 24 October , the funereal procedure took place before the eyes of millions of spectators who watched this historical moment from their homes .
Beyond the parliamentary debates and discussions of politicians before the media , an intense controversy emerged on Twitter between people of varying ages and profiles . Under the hashtags # exhumaciónfranco ( Franco exhumation ), # elvallenosetoca ( the valley shall remain ) or # unboxing , opposing opinions were observed , as we will see below . From 31 March 2019 , when the provisional suspension of the exhumation was in force , to 24 October , the date of its execution , we monitored the reaction on the internet . Over this period , activity , both for and against , depended on the progress of the events . On 4 June , when the Supreme Court paralysed the exhumation , the number of tweets reached 50,000 per day . On 24 September , when the same Court endorsed the exhumation , the number of daily tweets doubled . Finally , on 24 October , the day designated for the
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Observing Memories ISSUE 4