The remains of the founder of the Falange Española fascist movement, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, were exhumed this Monday of the formerly called Valley of the Fallen, built by the dictator Francisco Franco, and transferred to a cemetery in Madrid, where moments of tension were experienced.
The tomb occupied a “pre-eminent” place in the basilica of said monument, something contrary to what is stipulated in the Law of Democratic Memory in Spain, approved last year, which also renames that place as Valle de Cuelgamuros, located near Madrid.
The remains of Primo de Rivera remained there since the inauguration of the enclosure 64 years ago, in a place close to the grave of Franco, who was buried in the same place from his death in 1975 until his exhumation in 2019, by government decree.
By family decision The remains of the founder of the Falange were reinterred in the Madrid cemetery of San Isidro, the oldest in the capital, where other relatives are buried, such as his brothers Miguel and Pilar.
Banners commemorating the founder of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, in front of the San Isidro cemetery in Madrid.
The works for the exhumation of Primo de Rivera They began early Monday morning, behind closed doors and without the presence of authorities or the press, coinciding with the 120th anniversary of his birth.
The coffin was transferred to the cemetery in a hearse, escorted by the Civil Guard and by a long procession, where his relatives were traveling.
The entire process was undertaken in agreement between the Government and the family and was exempt from the enormous media expectation and political controversy that accompanied the exhumation of the dictator in October 2019.
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The departure of the coffin from the Cuelgamuros Valley occurred with total normality, however, there were moments of tension when the hearse arrived at the cemetery, where a hundred people had approached with shirts and bracelets with the flag of Spain, as well as Falange flags and their symbols.
The police had to contain a group of those sympathizers to prevent them from exceeding the security cordon, while they chanted the “Face to the Sun”, a Falangist hymn, and the name of José Antonio.
After the confrontation, three people were arrested for public disorder, police sources confirmed to Efe.
Among the attendees there was an atmosphere of certain discomfort due to the exhumation of Primo de Rivera and the attitude of his family, who decided to do it privately.
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The coffin will now be in the Madrid cemetery.
fourth transfer
Primo de Rivera was shot in 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War began, after being sentenced for conspiracy and military rebellion against the Government of the Second Republic by a people’s court.
His death, at the age of 33, made him a mythical figure among those who rebelled against the republic and later among supporters of Francoism.
His remains passed through various locations throughout history. After his burial in Alicante (east), where he was shot, his coffin was moved, at the end of the Civil War in 1939, to the Escorial monastery, burial place of the kings of Spain, in a procession on foot that lasted ten days.
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In 1959, after the construction of the Valley of the Fallen, he was buried there, in a prominent place, until today he was exhumed.
The exhumation of the remains of Primo de Rivera responds to the application of the Democratic Memory Law of 2022, that prevents the presence of mortal remains in any “preeminent” place of the enclosure, as was the case.
In addition, it establishes that this place be resignified, which since its construction became a symbol of Francoism, and in it only the remains of people who died as a result of the Civil War (1936-1939) can lie, as a place of recognition and homage to the victims, and it is considered a civil cemetery.
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The remains of Francisco Franco, exhumed in 2019.
Primo de Rivera, as a victim of the conflict, could be buried in the crypt, but his family preferred that he be buried in a Catholic cemetery.
The government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, affirmed that the exhumation of the remains of the founder of the Falange is taking place with “absolute normality” and stressed the importance of having carried out this work with “all the scientific and technical rigor and with all respect and accompaniment to his family”.
Pursuant to the Democratic Memory Law, they also exhumed the remains of Francoist General Gonzalo Queipo de LLano from the Basilica de la Macarena in Seville (south) last November.
EFE
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