Spanish Congress passes law to exhume dictator Francisco Franco

The Spanish Congress has passed a law amendment to exhume the remains of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from his mausoleum in the Valley of the Fallen, in the Madrid region.

On Thursday afternoon, the initiative was passed with 176 out of the 350 votes in favor, 165 abstentions and two against.

All Catalan MPs voted Yes except for those of unionist People's Party and Ciutadans forces, who abstained.

When taking office in spring, the new Socialist government said one of its priorities was removing Franco's corpse from the mausoleum, 43 years after his death.

In August the cabinet passed a decree ordering the remains be moved wherever the dictator's family decides, and they aim to make it happen before the end of the year.

The measure has led to some controversy and a political row recently.

Nullifying Francoist sentences

Taking the chance of this debate, the pro-independence Catalan parties have urged Madrid to nullify Francoist death and prison sentences, including the one affecting the former Catalan president Lluís Companys, executed by the regime in 1940. The Catalan Parliament symbolically nullified them all in 2017.