- Title: Franco supporters commemorate anniversary of his death
- Date: 20th November 2018
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 20, 2018) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO THE VALLEY OF THE FALLEN MAUSOLEUM POSTER SEEN TROUGH CAR GLASS READING (Spanish) "DON'T TOUCH THE VALLEY" CAR WITH SPAIN'S PRE-CONSTITUTIONAL FLAG OF THE FRANCO'S REGIME, ARRIVING AT MAUSOLEUM ENTRANCE TO MAUSOLEUM VARIOUS OF CAR WITH SPAIN'S PRE-CONSTITUTIONAL FLAG OF THE FRANCO'S REGIME ARRIVING AT MAUSOLEUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEADER OF MOVEMENT FOR SPAIN, PILAR GUTIERREZ, SAYING: "From our part, what we expect is a beautiful procession with a beautiful wreath for his tomb and, at the exit after the mass, we will give a very important piece of news for the press and announce the next initiatives we are going to carry out and how we are going to continue the fight." GUTIERREZ SPEAKING TO CAMERA CREW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEADER OF MOVEMENT FOR SPAIN, PILAR GUTIERREZ, SAYING: "Eighty-two percent of Spaniards are crying for Franco. Therefore we keep remembering him and honouring him because we have every right in the world to do so. The same right that drove Prime Minister Sanchez to go and honour the dictator of Morocco, Hassan V, or whatever his name is. He was there the other day paying homage to him at his tomb so how dare he take away Spaniards' right to do what he is doing for a real dictator like the Moroccan Mohammed V was." FRANCO SYMBOL AT ENTRANCE OF MAUSOLEUM POLICE AT ENTRANCE OF MAUSOLEUM VARIOUS OF VEHICLE WITH SPAIN'S PRE-CONSTITUTIONAL FLAG ENTERING MAUSOLEUM SIGN READING (Spanish) "VALLEY OF THE FALLEN"
- Embargoed: 4th December 2018 11:43
- Keywords: Francisco Franco Dictator Anniversary Valley of the Fallen
- Location: SAN LORENZO DEL ESCORIAL, SPAIN
- City: SAN LORENZO DEL ESCORIAL, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00197B8TVR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Far-right supporters of Francisco Franco gathered to commemorate the death of Spain's dictator Francisco Franco in the Valley of the Fallen where he is buried on Tuesday (November 20) amidst controversy as Spain's Socialist government prepares to go ahead with the exhumation of the general.
Supporters of the fascist leader will be holding a mass at the basilica in the state-funded mausoleum, a site which has long been a destination for far-right groups in Spain.
The Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez got parliamentary approval to remove Franco's body in September as part of plan to turn the site into a place to remember the civil war rather than glorify the dictatorship.
The government's plan has sparked anger from supporters of Franco and his family says they will bury him in Madrid's Almudena Cathedral where they have a crypt if the body is removed.
Families of the tens of thousands of his opponents who were killed or imprisoned during his near four-decade rule oppose his burial at such an emblematic site and have taken to the streets in protest.
The government also opposes a transfer to the Almudena Cathedral and hopes the exhumation will help settle grievances from the period of his rule that still cast a shadow over the country.
As many as 500,000 combatants and civilians died in the Spanish civil war.
The monument at the Valley of the Fallen, with its towering 150-meter cross, was built by Franco himself in 1959.
The founder of Spain's fascist Falange party, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, is also interred there. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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