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Franco Medals stripped

By Lisa Zeffertt • Published: 11 Jul 2023 • 18:23

Yolanda Diaz has made the announcement concerning stripping of medals Credit: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Government has given the green light at the meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, July 11, to strip the Medals for Merit for Works awarded by Franco from eight senior officials of the Franco dictatorship, as well as medals awarded to the dictator, Francisco Franco Bahamonde himself.

Yolanda Díaz, the second vice president, announced in October 2022 that these decorations should be withdrawn. The Minister of Labour stated on Tuesday, July 11, that, “The only job that the people from whom we withdraw this merit today is because they worked to violate human rights and trample on democracy in our country” and apologised to victims of the dictatorship, saying “We have taken too long to take this step”.

This move comes shortly after the Law of Historical Memory was passed last Friday, July 7. This divisive law declares the Francoist regime illegal and allows for the investigation into breaches of law during the Franco regime and the recovery and identification of long-lost victims of the Spanish Civil War. Historians estimate that Spain has 110,000 people buried in mass graves during the war, and Spain has the highest number of forced disappearances in the world, second only to Cambodia.

The Government approved a change in regulations for the Ministry of Work in February, to allow them to strip these medals from mainly, Francoist repressors, but also those convicted of corruption. All the names were recorded in the “Golden Book of Work” which Díaz called the “Golden Book of Infamy”.

Aside from the medal awarded to the dictator, medals have been stripped from eight high-level members of the Francoist dictatorship, including the following names: José Luis Arrese y Magra, José León de Carranza Gómez-Pablos, José María Fernández-Ladreda y Menéndez Valdés, José Antonio Girón de Velasco, Enrique Plá y Deniel, Jesús Romeo Gorría, José Solís Ruiz, Juan Yagüe Blanco.

The Medals of Merit for Works were created in 1926, during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. Later, this decoration was reinstated during Franco’s regime in 1942.

Díaz said that from now on, the Medals would be awarded to those in recognition of their work merit, and not to those “whose hands are stained with blood”.

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Written by

Lisa Zeffertt

Lisa is British, born in Hong Kong and has lived in many countries including the UK, Hong Kong, Cyprus, and Thailand, Spain has been her home for the past 10 years. After graduating with a BA in English Literature and Art History, she has worked in different sectors, most recently as a ghostwriter and translator for six years Writing is one of her passions, as well as working in both Spanish (fluent) and English.

Comments

    • Concha

      12 July 2023 • 23:39

      Bravo! it is about time! Where lie the remains of Frederico Garcia Lorca? One of the few of the thousands who were marched away by the falangistas??? While we cannot change the past we can shine a light into the darkness and finally speak out about these “unspeakable” facts.

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