"He was a good man, a man of peace": Francoism loses its shame

Madrid"We, Spaniards grateful to Francisco Franco, want to raise our voice in this year 2025. We want to do so because the political and media powers have declared that 2025 must be the year of lies against the Caudillo." Thus begins the manifesto of the 2025 Platform, an initiative that brings together Francoist entities such as the Francisco Franco Foundation and whose objective is to refute the agenda of celebration of the 50th anniversary of the dictator's death promoted by the Spanish government. A historic event that Pedro Sánchez claims as a key element in achieving "freedom" in the Spanish state. Nearly 1,500 people, according to the promoters, signed the manifesto, which goes in the opposite direction and praises the dictatorship, asserting that Franco was an "exemplary Christian," a "good man" who left a legacy of "prosperity, unity, and peace." Among the supporters are names such as Antonio Tejero, the former lieutenant colonel of the Civil Guard who was a protagonist in the attempted coup d'état of February 23; Miguel Bernad, leader of Manos Limpias; at least four of Franco's grandchildren; and the children of former Francoist minister José Utrera Molina.

The initiative is not limited to a manifesto, and its promoters have had no qualms about organizing a public event this Tuesday in Madrid to present the platform and announce a counterprogram of conferences praising the dictator. The choice of day is no coincidence. On April 1, 1939, just 86 years ago, the end of the Civil War was declared, an event that Franco's supporters christened "Victory Day." While supporters of Franco's regime describe it as the beginning of a period of "peace," "stability," and "freedom"—a Vox MP in the Balearic Islands celebrated the anniversary in parliamentary headquarters–, historians such as the British Paul Preston, a renowned Hispanist, describe in the book The Spanish Holocaust: Hatred and Extermination in the Civil War and Afterward how a "prolongation" of the war against the Republic occurred. From the front lines, they went on to "military tribunals, prisons, concentration camps, labor battalions, and even among exiles" with a well-oiled "machinery of terror" aimed at suppressing dissent.

In the presentation, the speakers, including former General Juan Chicharro, president of the Francisco Franco Foundation, denied the dictatorship's repression and the figures for murders and disappearances. "They make them up," they maintained, rightly calling Preston a "pseudo-historian" who "falsifies data" and is "in the pay of the PSOE." Criticism of Sánchez and the Socialists, whom they accuse of being "guilty of the Civil War," has been constant. "The PSOE should be outlawed today, not the Francisco Franco Foundation. The existence of Spain is incompatible with that of the PSOE," stressed moderator Javier García Isac, general director of the far-right group EDATV. The Ministry of Culture launched the process to extinguish the group in June of last year, and sources consulted by this newspaper guarantee that it is "moving forward." "Whether they outlaw us or not, we are not going to back down," Chicharro warned.

Sanctioning proceedings?

Although the Democratic Memory Law has been in force since 2022 and provides for administrative sanctions for the convening of events that "incite personal or collective exaltation of the military uprising, the war or the dictatorship" and "of its leaders" whenever it "involves discredit, contempt or humiliation of the victims2" 5. Sources from the Ministry of Democratic Memory, when questioned by ARA, explain that, for the moment, data is being collected and a study is being made as to whether it is appropriate to open a sanctioning file in this case. So far, the law has been applied Only one fine of 10,001 euros has been imposed on the Falange for an event on the occasion of November 20th. Tuesday's protest ended with shouts of "Visca Franco" and some fascist salutes.

In a document filed this Monday with Congress, ERC denounced the "proliferation" of this type of Francoist glorification and called on the Spanish government to act and stop being "permissive." Another of the Platform 2025 initiatives specifically affects deputies in the lower house, as copies of a book entitled "The 2025 Platform" have been sent to the Spanish Parliament. 50 years of lies about Francisco Franco, which will also serve as a fundraiser. "They want to put me in prison to say that Franco built swamps," Chicharro said, attacking the memory law, which, in his opinion, attacks fundamental rights such as freedom of thought and expression.