Barcelona takes city's last remaining Francoist monument down

The Barcelona council removed the angel statue from Montjuïc Castle's monument to the fallen. Previously located in the Santa Elena moat and dating back to 1940, it was the city's last remaining Francoist sculpture in a public space.

Workers took down the 2,000 kg sculpture, which will be stored at MUHBA, the city's history museum, around midday on Wednesday.

A bronze chest that will be analyzed by MUHBA specialists was discovered under the monument. Based on articles from the early years of the dictatorship, it is thought to contain sand that was soaked with the blood of fallen Francoist soldiers. 

In recent years, the statue had been used to teach schoolchildren about General Francisco Franco's fascist dictatorship (1936-1975).  

Jordi Rabassa, the city's councilmember for democratic memory, told the Catalan News Agency that the matter had been "pending" for a while.

"We don't want to get rid of it completely," he said. "We don't want it to be forgotten."

According to Rabassa, the council has taken down over 1,000 Franco-era plaques on buildings across the city over the past two terms. Despite these efforts, there are still some that private property owners do not wish to remove. 

Rabassa also explained that the council withdrew the fascist Falangist Association's permit to hold mass beside the monument this last term.