Franco-era flag unfurled outside grandson's home as family departs

Record ID: 1438451

  • Title: Franco-era flag unfurled outside grandson's home as family departs
  • Date: 24th October 2019
  • Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF WOMEN HANGING SPANISH FLAG WITH BLACK RIBBON FROM BALCONY VARIOUS OF MAN AND WOMAN HANGING FRANCO-ERA FLAG FROM GATE CLOSE-UP OF FRANCO-ERA FLAG MAN FINISHING HANGING FLAG ON GATE MAN TAKING PHOTO OF HOME FROM ACROSS STREET MAN AND WOMAN PUTTING WREATH OUT ON SIDEWALK CLOSE-UP OF WREATH THAT READS "THANK YOU FRANCO" FLAG HANGING FROM GATE AND WREATH SET OUT ON SIDEWALK FRANCO FAMILY WALKING OUT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FRANCISCO FRANCO Y MARTINEZ-BORDIU, OLDEST GRANDSON OF FRANCISCO FRANCO, SAYING: "All of the grandchildren, all of the great-grandchildren who are in Spain, at this moment.(INAUDIBLE) (REPORTER ASKING: "WHAT DO YOU THING ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT PROHIBITING CONCENTRATIONS OF PEOPLE?) I don't want, I don't want to give my opinion. I believe what they're looking for is, it seems, that it looks like my grandfather is alone, that no one wants to be there. I'm sorry, we have to go." VARIOUS OF BUS LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2019 07:40
  • Keywords: Spanish dictator Francisco Franco exhumation grandson flag departure Valley of the Fallen
  • Location: MADRID, SPAIN
  • City: MADRID, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B2GHR9J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A Franco-era flag was unfurled at the Madrid home of the late dictator Francisco Franco's oldest grandson on Thursday (October 24), on the day of Spain's ex-leader's long-awaited exhumation.
    Authorities are removing the dictator's remains from a state mausoleum, seeking to exorcise the ghost of a dictator whose legacy still divides the country more than four decades after his death.
    Amid tight security and in virtual secrecy, his coffin will be taken from the Valley of the Fallen and reburied in a private family vault, transported either by helicopter or, if bad weather intervenes, by guarded motorcade.
    About a half-dozen journalists gathered outside the home in the pre-dawn light to await the departure of Francisco Franco Y Martinez-Bordiu and his family.
    Franco has called the operation - and its low-key nature - a political ploy by the governing Socialist Party.
    In government since mid-2018 and facing a national election next month, the Socialists have long sought to exhume Franco, who unleashed the civil war that killed around 500,000 people between 1936 and 1939.
    They won backing for the decision to move his remains from a divided parliament, and the Supreme Court ratified it last month after dismissing a challenge from Franco's descendants.
    The government estimates the move will cost up to 63,000 euros ($70,000).
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register