They demand that Juan Carlos de Borbón's name be removed from public spaces.

BarcelonaThe Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH) has sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Memory demanding that all elements that exalt the figure of the emeritus king be removed from public spaces. Juan Carlos de Borbón. The association believes that he was a Francoist leader and, therefore, his name cannot appear on streets, buildings, or other elements, according to Article 35 of the Law of Democratic Memory.

"Joan Carlos was head of state during the dictatorship, and that makes him a leader of Francoism," says Emilio Silva, president of the ARMH. "He presided over cabinet meetings while people were being detained and tortured, thousands of Republicans were in exile and unable to return home, there was censorship in culture and the media, and fundamental freedoms were lacking," Silva adds.

Franco's replacement in case of death

On 22 July 1969, Juan Carlos de Borbón was appointed by the Cortes as Franco's successor as head of state, as king and with the provisional title of Prince of Spain. The following day, the nephew of Alfonso XIII swore an oath of loyalty to the head of state and fidelity to the principles of the National Movement and the other fundamental laws of the Kingdom of Spain before the Cortes, on a Bible and under the gaze of the dictator.

The prince subsequently rose to the ranks of brigadier general in the armies and air force, and then rear admiral in the navy. On 15 June 1971, he was appointed by law to provisionally replace the head of state in the event of absence or incapacity. While Franco was in bed, Juan Carlos replaced him on an interim basis from July 19 to September 2, 1974, and again from October 30, 1975.

The ARMH argues that the law of democratic memory specifies that symbols and elements must be removed. The association highlights the point of the law that specifies that "those references present in place names, in street nomenclature or in the names of public centers that allude to the military rebellion and the dictatorship, to its leaders, participants in the repressive system or to the organizations that claimed to collaborate with Franco's regime and the Axis powers during the Second World War will be considered elements contrary to democratic memory."