“Spain finishes with the last major symbol of the dictatorship,” blared a Spanish headline Thursday as the country exhumed the remains of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco and transferred them to a small family crypt.
Franco, who ruled Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975, helped lead the nationalist coup to overthrow the democratic government in 1936, which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands during the Spanish Civil War.
When Franco died at 82, he was interred in a grandiose mausoleum outside of Madrid. Thursday exhumation stemmed from amendments to a 2007 law that seeks redress for the approximately 100,000 victims of the war, many of whom are buried in unmarked graves. The law prohibits Franco’s remains from being in a public place where he can be memorialized as a political figure, according to the Associated Press.
His body was removed from under two tons of granite and marble slabs, and the coffin was flown via helicopter 35 miles away to Mingorrubio cemetery where his wife is buried. About two dozen of Franco’s family members were present for the exhumation, but they were banned from using cellphones or recording.
Despite his notorious persona, about 500 Franco supporters, waving Franco-era flags and chanting, showed up at Mingorrubio cemetery to protest the move.
A distant relative of Franco, Macarena Martínez Bordiu, said she was “outraged” by the government’s decision and said it was “desecrating a tomb.”
Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero praised the move and said it “has great significance for our democracy. Today our democracy is more perfect.”
