Franco supporter denounces exhumation ruling, says he deserves same treatment as Napoleon
Record ID:
1432608
Franco supporter denounces exhumation ruling, says he deserves same treatment as Napoleon
- Title: Franco supporter denounces exhumation ruling, says he deserves same treatment as Napoleon
- Date: 24th September 2019
- Summary: SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF 152-METRE-TALL (500 FEET) STONE CROSS ABOVE THE BASILICA OF THE HOLY CROSS OF THE VALLEY OF THE FALLEN BASILICA OF THE HOLY CROSS OF THE VALLEY OF THE FALLEN TOURISTS IN FRONT OF THE BASILICA FORMER DICTATOR'S SUPPORTER PILAR GUTIERREZ AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE VALLEY OF THE FALLEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER DICTATOR'S SUPPORTER PILAR GUTIERREZ SAYING: "I think it's the end of the rule of law. I am going to quote Napoleon, who was precisely a dictator, he was, he caused thousands of deaths in Europe and also in Spain. He is buried in a mausoleum, that's what it is, a mausoleum, in Les Invalides in Paris. Nobody would think of exhuming him from there, to desecrate his tomb, come on, imagine telling that to a Frenchman. Well, he said that humiliating the dead is cowardly." GUTIERREZ (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER DICTATOR'S SUPPORTER PILAR GUTIERREZ SAYING: "We ask all those who feel like I do at the moment, absolutely outraged and disgusted, to once again pull out their posters saying "Don't touch the Valley", to put them in their cars, in their houses, on their lapels, everywhere, so that we can see what the nation really thinks." FRANCO'S EAGLE OF THE BASILICA / STONE CROSS CROSS BEHIND STATUE OF VIRGIN MARY AND JESUS TOURISTS WALKING OUTSIDE THE MAUSOLEUM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TOURIST WHO WORKS IN REAL STATE, MARICARMEN SANTANA, SAYING: "I think it's all nonsense, really. I think they're focusing our attention on this instead of more important things that we should be (focusing on)." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOLIVIAN TOURIST GERMAN VILES SAYING: "I don't find it positive, this doesn't fix the past. We should think about the future, about improving. Not just the Francoists, all of us. Spain has a great future, but we must forget the past." TOURISTS IN FRONT OF THE BASILICA VARIOUS OF THE MAUSOLEUM MADRID, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE ENTRANCE OF MINGORRUBIO EL PARDO CEMETERY, WHERE FRANCO'S WIFE IS BURIED SPANISH POLICE STATUE AT MAUSOLEUM VARIOUS OF MINGORRUBIO EL PARDO CEMETERY
- Embargoed: 8th October 2019 14:52
- Keywords: Franco Spanish dictator Franco exhumation Supreme Court Valley of the Fallen
- Location: SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL AND MADRID, SPAIN
- City: SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL AND MADRID, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AY0P007
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Tourists and Franco supporters were shocked by the Spanish Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday (September 24) to exhume the remains of the former dictator from the Valley of the Fallen, where he was buried after his death in 1975.
Franco supporter Pilar Gutierrez quoted Napoleon, saying "humiliating the dead is cowardly" and asked those who felt as "absolutely outraged and disgusted" as she did to denounce the court's decision and display posters everywhere bearing a message to leave the Valley alone.
Tourists visiting the Valley of the Fallen said there was no point in paying attention to what was happening, calling it "nonsense" and saying that the matter was giving excessive attention to the past and distracting from the country's "great future."
The ruling should allow the government of Socialist Pedro Sanchez to go ahead with its plans to move the remains from the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum to the family tomb at Mingorrubio El Pardo, a state cemetery on the outskirts of Madrid.
Franco, who ruled Spain from his victory in the 1936-1939 civil war until his death in 1975, remains a contentious political touchstone in Spain.
The Socialists have long sought to turn the Valley of the Fallen complex outside Madrid into a memorial to victims of the civil war, unleashed by Franco, in which about 500,000 people were killed.
Nearly 34,000 dead from the civil war are buried there, including many who fought for the losing Republican side and whose bodies were transferred to the site during Franco's dictatorship without the permission of families.
(Production: Guillermo Martinez, Silvio Castellanos, Elena Rodriguez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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