Franco-era portraits removed from Spanish Congress

Three portraits of Franco-era parliamentary chiefs no longer hang in Spain’s Congress in Madrid: speaker Francina Armengol says taking them down helps put right a long-standing wrong. The pictures were removed from the portrait gallery last week. Armengol welcomed the move on Monday, 26 October, in a social media post.

The portraits showed Esteban de Bilbao y Eguía, Antonio Iturmendi Bañales and Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel y Nebreda. Between them, they presided over the Cortes, Spain’s parliament under Francisco Franco, from 1943 to 1975. Left-wing and nationalist parties, along with groups campaigning to preserve historical memory, had sought the portraits’ removal for decades. Until now, the Socialist Party had opposed it.

Sumar MP Esther Gil put forward the latest proposal. A Congress committee approved it on 13 October with votes from the Socialists and Sumar; the conservative People’s Party abstained. The portraits were taken down ahead of an event planned for 28 October to honour victims of the military coup, the Civil War and the dictatorship. Armengol said the decision recognised those victims and fulfilled both the committee’s agreement and Spain’s Democratic Memory Law.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com