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

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

Sources from the different parties that signed the agreement explain that they have decided to impose on the Government only a one-year deadline to remove the Francoist monument in Tortosa because it is a case in which "work has been going on for a long time" and "there is a lot of work already done," despite the legal impediments that had to be faced. Thus, twelve months is the exact time they calculate is needed to re-tender and execute the work. As for the rest, the deadline is double because beforehand it is still necessary to complete the inventory of Francoist symbology found throughout the country, especially in homes. In any case, the same sources assure that this work is already quite advanced. On the other hand, the regulation aims to create another inventory of all the republican symbology that the Franco regime erased, although they consider that it requires more work and in no case is it mandatory to recover it.

The new regulation also includes the creation of a technical commission on memory. It will be formed by a group of experts and, as if it were a tribunal, it will attempt to uncover crimes of Francoism that have not been resolved. It will have a period of two years to issue its conclusions, and will study evidence and interview witnesses, victims and aggressors. Sources from the various parties point out that the goal of this body is to offer a kind of reparation to the victims of Francoism, even if it is only to know the truth.

Negotiating sources of the regulation admit that they have included a sanctioning regime as ambitious as possible, but taking into account the limitations of the legal framework to prevent other groups, such as the PP and Vox, from being able to put legal obstacles in its way and putting the entry into force of the regulation at risk. In fact, the five parties that signed the agreement foresee that it will be taken to the Justice Committee this Thursday at noon, and that it can already be voted on and approved at the next plenary session of Parliament, although it may be delayed if any parliamentary group takes it to the Statutory Guarantee Council. In any case, the Vox spokesperson in Parliament, Joan Garriga, has assured in a press conference that at least for the moment they do not plan to take this step. "It contributes nothing. It is an organization that costs us a lot of money and, furthermore, it is consultative," said the far-right deputy.

The sanctioning regime classifies the glorification of Francoism, such as hanging a flag of the dictatorial regime on a balcony, as a serious offense; and it aims above all to prevent the glorification 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 victims are buried.

The amendments of the CUP and Junts

Beyond the three partners –the PSC, ERC and Comuns–, Junts and the CUP have also participated in the negotiations. However, they have joined in and withdrawn all amendments to the new law in exchange for some of their main requests being added. The most prominent is the commitment to approve in the future another law that not only works for democratic memory from the beginning of the Second Republic until the holding of the first Catalan elections, like the one agreed upon this Tuesday, but also includes the current democratic regime. In this way, both the Junts members and the CUP members have managed to get Parliament to "commit" to remembering the repression that the Spanish state has exercised during these last years of democracy, especially against the independence movement.

On the other hand, just as the CUP had requested, the regulation also includes a point in which it asks the Spanish government to convert, once and for all, the Via Laietana police station in Barcelona into an interpretation center for torture and repression. However, this is a mere request to Madrid, since the Generalitat does not have the powers to carry it out.