QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
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Keys to understand the Spanish case and future perspectives .
Although it is too soon to draw consistent and definitive conclusions and despite the need for a second sampling phase to complete the findings , a number of more specific keys to understanding can be considered on the state of the issue in Spain in relation to the management of colonial memory :
1 . The historical memory law : Reference must be made to this law , not because of its contribution to the colonial issue , but because of its contribution to oblivion . Law 52 / 2007 of 26 December , which recognises and expands rights and establishes measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship , does not make any mention of the word “ Africa ”, “ colony ”, “ Guinea ”, “ Morocco ”, or “ Sahara ”. The first law approved in Spain , more than 30 years after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco , on the memory of his victims , forgot – or sought to forget – that Franco ’ s Spain had colonies in Africa that suffered from the dictatorship as much as the Spaniards on the Iberian Peninsula . This report does not seek to conduct a detailed analysis of the law , but it must be pointed out that said law recognises the possibility of acquiring nationality for international brigade members or descendants of exiles while keeping the claims for nationality among citizens of the decolonised colonies during the dictatorship in legal limbo – one fact does not exclude the other , but they are undoubtedly parameters worthy of reflection . Africans from Morocco , Sahara or Guinea are not recognised as victims of Francoism or colonialism ; they are not subject to the memory law . The law “ recognises and declares the injustice caused by the exile of many Spaniards during the Civil War and the Dictatorship ” (“ Art . 1 , 3 ) but does not mention how unjust the racial segregation practised in its colonies was , the political repression of political movements developed there or so many other realities of Franco ’ s colonial Spain .
However , this law has , almost inadvertently , contributed at least twice to the removal of colonialist symbols . Nonetheless , not for being colonialist , but for being connected to the Franco regime . The latter had deep colonial roots : both Franco and other prominent rebels were part of the Africanists , a military group forged in the Moroccan campaigns . For this reason , part of the symbology and reference points of National Catholicism had an Africanist dimension . The changes to which we refer include , on the one hand , the street name change of Ejército de Africa to Modesta Calvo in Cádiz and ; on the other , the removal of the statue to General Varela , in San Fernando . In the latter case , right-wing groups allied with the legal Francisco Franco National Foundation that demanded that the statue be kept , precisely emphasising its “ brave ” role in the wars in Africa . In this case and in many others , the colonial dimension continues to have positive
T R A N S - A T L A N T I C R A C I A L R E D R E S S N E T W O R K : S P A N I S H C A S E
FINAL FINDINGS REPORT