The new democratic memory law will give one year to remove the Francoist monument of Tortosa

BarcelonaBroad majority for the approval of a new law of democratic memory. PSC, Junts, Esquerra, Comuns and CUP have agreed on a legal text that includes the removal of the Francoist monument in Tortosa within one year and all those in Catalonia within two, calls on the Spanish government to convert the Via Laietana police station in Barcelona into an interpretation center for torture and repression, and a sanctioning regime that provides for fines of between 200 and 250,000 euros for damages to key spaces for historical memory—such as mass graves—, display of symbology or exaltation of Francoism, Nazism or fascism.

Negotiating sources for the regulation admit that they have included the most ambitious sanctioning regime possible, but taking into account the limitations of the legal framework to prevent other groups, such as PP and Vox, from being able to place legal obstacles and risk the entry into force of the regulation. In fact, the five parties that sign the agreement expect it to be brought to the Justice Commission this Thursday at noon, and that it can already be voted on and approved at the next plenary session of the Parliament, although it may be delayed if any parliamentary group brings it to the Statutory Guarantees Council. In any case, the spokesperson for Vox in the Parliament, Joan Garriga, assured in a press conference that at least for the moment they do not plan to take this step. "It is useless. It is an organization that costs us a lot of money and, besides, it is consultative," said the far-right deputy.

The sanctioning regime classifies the exaltation of Francoism, such as hanging a flag of the Francoist regime on a balcony, as a serious offense, and aims above all to prevent the exaltation of Francoism in, for example, commemorative acts or demonstrations of the victims of the dictatorial regime or the civil war. Very serious offenses have to do with damaging or destroying spaces of great relevance for democratic memory, such as mass graves or areas where it is certain that there are buried victims.