Franco’s family requests military funeral for former dictator

THE seven grandchildren of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, want him to be buried with full ‘military honours’ if his remains are exhumed.
They have filed a petition with the Ombudsman’s Office to stop the removal of Franco’s body from the Valley of the Fallen monument, a move which has been approved by the Spanish Congress.
But if the plan’s go ahead, the dictator’s family want him to be buried inside La Almudena Cathedral in the centre of Madrid.
His relations have reportedly argued that under a 2010 decree, Franco is entitled to a military funeral with the ‘complete national anthem, volley shots and a cannon gun salute’.
The decree states that this type of ceremony is granted to the Spanish king, the royal family, the prime minister, the defence minister, chief staffs of the forces, as well as general officers of the army, navy and air force.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledged that Franco’s remains will be exhumed to strip him of his privileged position at the monument, but that it will be done with ‘dignity and respect’.
He made no mention of an honorary funeral, which would defeat the purpose of removing his remains from the site where more than 33,000 victims of the Spanish Civil War are buried, without marked graves.
The Franco family has a crypt at the cathedral which contains the remains of Franco’s daughter, Carmen Franco, as well as a vault at El Pardo cemetery, where his wife Carmen Polo is buried.

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