One day before the inaugural event of the ‘Spain in freedom’ campaign is held, with which the Government intends to commemorate the half century since the death of Francisco Franco, the Executive has defended its implementation against the criticism that some sectors and the Popular Party have done in recent days. “What we intend is neither more nor less than to join in defending 50 years of freedom against 40 of totalitarianism and darkness. “It is not an act of revenge, but of defending life in freedom in the face of death,” said the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers.
At the meeting, the members of the Government approved two royal decrees and an agreement to launch the bodies that will structure the campaign: the creation of a commissioner made up of a scientific committee and the appointment of the historian Carmina Gustrán Loscos as commissioner and of an inter-ministerial commission from which the work will be coordinated. Torres has justified that the expert “has experience in cultural management with different administrations such as the Madrid City Council with Almeida as mayor or in the Ministry of Culture with Mariano Rajoy.”
“We are not celebrating the death of anyone, it is true that the death of the dictator brought about a Transition that culminated in democracy that we must celebrate and has been a collective success,” justified the minister, who stated that he did not understand the PP’s position. , which in recent days has charged against the initiative. Torres has called on Feijóo’s party to “rectify” and “join the defense of democracy.” “What risk is there in saying that Francoism was a totalitarian period without freedoms? What democrat can defend Francoism? “We must be clear,” he said, naming the president of the Community of Madrid Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who has criticized the actions, stating that Sánchez “has gone crazy.”
The participation of the emeritus
He did so on December 10, when the president announced the launch of the campaign, with which the Government wants to commemorate “this half century of democracy and pay tribute to those who made it possible” through “an extensive program of activities” that They will take place during 2025, Sánchez said then on the day in tribute to the victims of the Civil War and the dictatorship. The agenda will start this Wednesday, January 8 at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, where the president will attend. The person who was invited by Moncloa but will not go to this kick-off will be King Felipe VI “for agenda reasons”, but he will participate in some of the other events planned during the year.
The participation of the Royal Family in the activities has been one of the issues that focused on the press conference after the Council of Ministers, in which several journalists asked the minister if the emeritus king Juan Carlos I will play a relevant role. “The Presidency Cabinet is in permanent contact with the Royal House and we will agree on what we do,” Torres limited himself to responding, assuring that “the role of the Royal House was fundamental during those years, not everything was tied up and well tied, we opted for a Constitution and we appreciate the response of the Royal House as a whole.”
Asked whether commemorating that 50 years of freedom began on November 20, 1975 cannot be contradictory to the violence that endured during the Transition, the minister justified the choice of the date as a starting point. “Logically, a dictatorship of four decades does not die the day its dictator dies, but if we look at the commemorations of other countries, they have always started from the fall of oppressive systems and we have established that it is the moment in which we should celebrate democracy and freedom.” Even so, “that does not mean that in 2027 or 2028 we can do other events to commemorate the first elections without Franco or the approval of the Constitution,” he added.
The Government has established several objectives for this initiative: “Celebrate the Spain that we are politically, socially and culturally; to pay tribute to all the people who have made it possible and to convey to today’s society, and especially to young people, the importance of defending the democratic era in the face of what the absence of freedoms meant,” the minister stated.
Putting the focus on the classrooms was one of the elements that the President of the Executive already advanced when he announced the campaign with the idea that “it is important for young people to know objectively what happened,” said Torres, who has put several examples: “Now we can vote, give our opinions freely, even associate and get together without being afraid of ending up in the dungeon. Women have been able to recover rights that were curtailed for four decades. The children belonged to the man, who was the one who authorized them to open a bank account. Homosexuals can now marry, but during the dictatorship they could be transferred to work camps.”
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