Indignation among historians over how the Junta de Extremadura has manipulated their research to protect a Francoist symbol
The Spanish government wants to declare the Cross of the Fallen of Cáceres as an Asset of Cultural Interest and prevent its removal
BarcelonaMiguel Ángel del Arco Blanco is a professor of contemporary history at the University of Granada and author of Cruces de memoria y de olvido. Los monumentos a los caídos de la Guerra Civil Española (1936-2021) (Crítica), where he explains that, through monuments in public spaces, Franco manipulated memory. This August he has seen that his research, in which he denounces how Francoism appropriated a symbol of Christianity, has been used to initiate the process to declare the Creu dels Caiguts in Cáceres an Asset of Cultural Interest.
Del Arco Blanco is indignant: "Both César Rina and I are profoundly indignant. They are using my work to give it supposed scientific content, but they are emptying it of its real meaning. The core of my book argues precisely that these monuments are Francoist: they were made by Francoism, paid for by Francoism, and have a strictly Francoist meaning of victory in the Civil War and exclusion. My thesis in the book is clear: they must be removed from public spaces. Therefore, for them to use my name in the annex to support their decision is an absolute misrepresentation. It is a lack of respect for knowledge and academic work. I would like them to cite the exact page where I say what they claim I say," he laments.
It is difficult to understand that these two historians are cited precisely in the report of the Junta de Extremadura. Del Arco Blanco is part of the commission of experts from the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory that has included this element in the catalog of symbols contrary to democratic memory and has requested its removal. The historian is considering initiating administrative actions, because the Junta de Extremadura has used his name in a work that does not even have a signature and whose author is unknown. In the same vein is César Rina Simón, a professor at UNED, who accuses the Junta of having used his academic prestige in the official annexes to justify a measure that he does not subscribe to. Del Arco Blanco also warns that this "is the path" that right-wing formations are taking: "Protecting Francoist monuments by alleging that they are religious elements".
The Cross of the Fallen of Cáceres was erected in 1938 in the Plaza de América, at the end of one of the city's main avenues. Throughout the dictatorship, the Francoist victory was commemorated there with masses, parades, and offerings. In democracy, between 1978 and 1980, acts in memory of the "fallen" continued to be held there. Years later, it was still a meeting point every November 20th to remember Franco and his regime, and flowers were laid there. Since 2007, different entities have requested its removal, but the council has refused time and again, alleging that it was not a Francoist symbol. Supporters of maintaining the monument have also mobilized. Some have created a Facebook group, Salvemos la Cruz de los Caídos, which has accumulated more than 8,000 members.
