- Title: ¨They´re digging up the past,¨ man says of Franco exhumation
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH PUERTA DEL SOL IN MADRID STACK OF NEWSPAPERS
- 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: LVA001B2GHWSN
- 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
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