Ayuso avoids condemning Francoism: "They won't find us involved in civil war-like behavior"

MadridWhile Congress prepares to host several events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Francisco Franco's death, the anniversary only surfaced in the Madrid Assembly at the initiative of the left during the question period for Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government. "Today, November 20th, is a good day to celebrate democracy by condemning Francoism. Why don't you try to condemn it?" challenged Manuela Bergerot, the parliamentary spokesperson for Más Madrid, to the Madrid president. Ayuso dodged the question, arguing that she was born in a democracy in 1978. "You won't find us involved in the Civil War," she asserted. It is common for the leader of the Madrid PP to equate both sides, the Francoist and the Republican, and she did so again this Thursday to avoid speaking out against the dictatorship.

"To condemn the Civil War, we must first condemn the prelude, which is building a wall between Spaniards," Ayuso said. In a subsequent press conference, Bergerot denounced the Madrid president for lumping together a period of "terror" and the Second Republic. In fact, Ayuso's administration goes even further, drawing a parallel between the period leading up to the start of the conflict in 1936 and Pedro Sánchez's term. The spokesperson for the Madrid government and Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Miguel Ángel García Martín, accused the Spanish government of "resurrecting the Francomodino to artificially divide Spaniards." "We will not join them in any sectarian celebration," García Martín said during the plenary session, arguing that the Madrid PP considers itself "heir to the Transition" and only participates in events that commemorate it, such as the anniversary of the Constitution. This decision aligns with their stance on events organized by the Spanish government to mark the 50th anniversary of Franco's death, which they consider a "trap" set by Sánchez. "The closest thing to Francoism is 'Sanchismo,'" was all the PP spokesperson in the Senate, Alicia García, would say, addressing an uncomfortable issue for the Popular Party, on which they are walking a tightrope, and following the equally controversial statements made this morning on a television program by the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá.Wave Zero He said that Francoism was "a stage in history that has its positive and negative sides," Daniel Martín Fernández reports

According to Catalá, history must be analyzed "calmly and serenely," without "a desire for revenge" or the notion that "the past was always better." On the negative side of the Franco regime, Catalá cited the absence of democracy, while on the positive side, she mentioned the hydraulic infrastructure. Faced with a barrage of criticism, the mayor of Valencia asserted that the Franco regime was "a dark period in our country's history that deserves to be overcome, and we must look to the future while condemning what it was." "We all understand that it was a period in which rights and freedoms were not respected, and that it has been overcome by generations who are very clear about our commitment to democracy, freedoms, and the future," she concluded.

Rebellion with memory

This complete overhaul of the 50th anniversary celebrations of democracy, promoted by the Spanish government, also extends to the Democratic Memory Law passed in the previous legislature. "It has little to do with memory and even less with democracy. Its sole purpose is to build walls and resurrect the spirit of the Civil War and resentment," stated Ayuso's own advisor, also questioned by Más Madrid. García Martín warned that when Alberto Núñez Feijóo arrives at La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's residence), "it will be one of the first laws he repeals." "They don't aspire to heal wounds but to close ranks," he insisted. The Madrid government has been resisting the implementation of this law for months and, in fact, has an open conflict with the Spanish government in the Constitutional Court. Ayuso refuses to place a plaque at the headquarters of the Madrid presidency, located in the Puerta del Sol, commemorating that during the dictatorship it was a site of police torture—it housed the offices of the Directorate General of Security (DGS), the equivalent of Via Laietana in Barcelona.

What the left sees as a "pathetic ploy against democratic memory," Ayuso views as a clear step in her strategy of direct opposition to Sánchez. García Martín, in fact, even mocked the proposal, at the request of victims' associations, to place a plaque commemorating the torture that occurred at the Madrid regional government headquarters. The spokesperson for the regional government suggested placing another plaque at the "official residence" of Yolanda Díaz, the second vice president of the Spanish government. "Franco also built that one; they should put up a big plaque to remind us of that," he demanded. With this stance, Ayuso's People's Party (PP) is moving closer to the positions of Vox. Its spokesperson in the Assembly, Isabel Pérez Moñino, criticized the campaign of "the far left" and its "smokescreens." "We don't want totalitarian laws that force Spaniards to condemn their neighbors' grandparents. We want coexistence regardless of political affiliations," she argued.