- Title: ¨They´re digging up the past,¨ man says of Franco exhumation
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: ANOTHER NEWSPAPER HEADLINE THAT READS "THE REMAINS OF FRANCO LEAVE THE VALLEY OF THE FALLEN AFTER 44 YEARS" HEADLINE OF EL PAIS THAT READS "SPAIN PUTS TO AN END TO THE LAST GRAND SYMBOL OF THE DICTATORSHIP" STACK OF NEWSPAPERS PROTEST SIGN THAT READS "FRANCO LOSES SOMETHING, HIS VOICE" MAN HOLDING PROTEST SIGN WALKS INTO CROWD MAN WITH SIGN TALKING WITH ANOTHER MAN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FABRI LOPEZ, HISTORY PROFESSOR, SAYING: "It seems bad to me because they´re digging up the past. It does not make any sense. This man spent 42 years entombed, rotten, more than rotten. The civil war ended 80 years ago, we keep stirring the story, I don´t know why." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ, TELEMARKETER, SAYING: "It seems to me like fireworks diverting attention from the important subjects. Socially they (government) have done nothing, they haven't done the labour reforms they promised. And they are not helping with foreclosures or taxes and doing nothing about getting the banks to return the money they were given for their rescue. They concentrate on rescuing banks, not people. They need to rescue people, so today is just to attract attention and to say, 'Look how progressive we are.' But really they don't concentrate on social issues and they are always pending." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING PEOPLE SEATED ON BENCH PEOPLE IN PUERTA DEL SOL
- Embargoed: 7th November 2019 13:44
- Keywords: Spain Spanish politics Francisco Franco Franco exhumation Franco remains Madrid Madrid reacts to Franco exhumation
- Location: MADRID, SPAIN
- City: MADRID, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003B2GHWSN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The exhumation of Spain´s former dictator Francisco Franco may have dominated the front pages of newspapers on Thursday (October 24), but some residents visiting Puerta del Sol square in Madrid said they have other, more pressing concerns.
One man said the government was digging up the past and stirring the story while another passerby said the ruling Socialist Party is using the exhumation to distract from its own shortcomings.
Authorities carried out the exhumation at the Valley of the Fallen in San Lorenzo de el Escorial, a little over 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Madrid, to lay the ghost of the general to rest whose legacy still divides the country he dominated for nearly four decades.
The ruling Socialist Party, which faces a national election next month, has long sought to move Franco's remains from the huge monument, built on his orders and containing the remains of combatants from both sides of the 1936-39 civil war.
The headline in El Pais newspaper read "Spain puts to an end the last grand symbol of the dictatorship," while another paper´s headline read, "The remains of Franco leave the Valley of the Fallen after 44 years." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
