Controversy over Guadamur video featuring Franco and Himmler

ToledoThe PP, the PSOE and Izquierda Unida (IU) in Castilla-La Mancha lamented that a video shown on Saturday on occasion of a Visigothic event in Guadamur (Toledo) included images of Francisco Franco and SS boss Heinrich Himmler. Projected on the façade of Guadamur’s Castle, the video aimed to show how the Guarrazar treasure —which had been sold to France— found its way back to this town in 1944.

The PP and the PSOE spokespeople in the regional parliament —Francisco Cañizares and Blanca Fernández— discussed the video in two separate press conferences on Monday, whereas IU issued a statement decrying the incident.

Pictures that “contributed nothing”

Francisco Cañizares complained that showing Franco and Himmler on the video actually contributed nothing to the account of how the Guarrazar treasure eventually travelled back to Spain, which is what the projection aimed to explain. In his view, this event could have been illustrated “in a more logical way”.

In addition, Blanca Fernández noted that inquiries must be made as to why the video featured General Franco and Himmler, and she remarked that, at first glance, “it sent shivers down my spine”. She demanded an enquiry into the context where the pictures were shown and “whether such blood-thirsty individuals were presented in a positive light, although how they could possibly feature on a video of this nature is altogether rather puzzling”, she concluded.

Finally, IU decried the video and expressed hope that an explanation will be found for the surrounding circumstances, given that “the pictures were not shown to condemn totalitarian regimes, such as Nazi Germany and Francoism”. Likewise, IU also mentioned other scenes and moments during the light and sound show when reference was made to “Franco’s cunning” in a sentence about World War II. These images “should also be condemned and, apparently, the video did not make this clear”.