monument

Appeal had been brought fourth by group in favor of “reinterpretation”

The Spanish Parliament approved a bill this Thursday presented by the Spanish Socialist Party aimed at removing the mortal remains of the two dictators Francisco Franco and José Antonio Primo de Rivera’s from the Valle de los Caídos basilica. The text calls for this monumental complex to “stop being a Francoist and national-catholic landmark” and to instead be turned into “a space for reconciliation and collective and democratic memory, aimed at dignifying and recognizing the victims of the Spanish Civil War and of the dictatorship”. Although it was a non-binding proposal, the governing Spanish Conservative, People’s Party (PP), abstained from voting. Catalan left-wing pro-independence ERC also abstained, but because they considered the proposal to be insufficient.

Barcelona’s City Hall had to dismantle the exhibition ‘Franco-Victory-Republic: impunity and urban space’after the equestrian sculpture of dictator Francisco Franco was pulled down last night. The monument, the head of which was pulled off in an act of vandalism a couple of years ago, had suffered several attacks since it was put in place before the ‘El Born’cultural centre on Monday. It was vandalised with graffiti, many offended citizens threw eggs and fruits at it and even objects such as the head of a pig were spontaneously added to the monument. According to Barcelona’s Deputy Mayor, Gerardo Pisarello, the exhibition “was a good decision” rather than a mistake because “it has generated public debate and reflection on the Francoism impunity”. The exhibition also included another Francoist sculpture, ‘Victoria’, which was withdrawn this Friday by Barcelona’s City Hall, because it didn’t make “any sense without the sculpture of the dictator”, Pisarello explained.

The representatives of pro-independence radical left CUP in Barcelona’s City Hall, CUP-Capgirem Barcelona, will ask for the removal of the iconic statue of Christopher Columbus, located at the end of the Rambla street, close to Barcelona’s port. They feel that the 60-metre-high monument, which was installed in the Catalan capital in 1888 to coincide with the Universal Exposition, “praises the conquest of America”. The three representatives from CUP-Capgirem Barcelona will suggest changing the Columbus monument for a memorial to the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the slaves brought to that continent, and their resistance in the face of “imperialism, oppression and segregation”. Liberal ‘Convergència’ have already opposed the removal of the monument and left wing pro-independence ERC said they will study CUP-Capgirem’s proposal, which will be discussed during a plenary session this Friday.

Aiming to control better the number of tourists visiting Antoni Gaudí’s famous Park Güell and to obtain revenue to pay for security and maintenance, a few months ago Barcelona City Council approved charging an entrance fee. Friday 25th will be the first day that visitors will have to pay for a ticket in order to access Gaudí’s monuments located in this park in the Catalan capital. The rest of the park will be open to the public as it used to be, without entrance fees. Up to Wednesday noon, 1,900 tickets had been sold for Friday, representing 23% of those available. In addition, the City Council delivered 25,000 cards for the park’s neighbours, in order to allow them access to the park’s entire area, including the zone where Gaudí’s monuments are located.

Gaudi’s buildings, Dali’s Museum of Figueres, and Montserrat Monastery, usually far away from one another, are some of the emblematic Catalan features that can be seen in ‘Catalunya en miniatura’. Unveiled in 1982, and celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2012, this miniature park presents, in a small format, the most important buildings, monuments and culture of Catalonia. It is the world’s largest tourist and cultural complex in miniature, and the only one in Spain. Now, the model park, a family business, has begun a new period with the NGO Dianova International buying more than a half of its shares.

Antoni Gaudí’s church will have a central tower, construction of which has already begun and is expected to be completed in seven years. It will be the tallest building in Barcelona, dominating the city’s skyline, standing at 170 metres high.

The monument was unveiled after a controversy that provoked a location change; catholic organisations did not want it in the surroundings of the Sagrada Família Basilica. The monument honours the victims of the sexual orientation discrimination: lesbian, gay, and transsexual people.

More than 30 years after the end of the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco, some towns have yet to remove the symbols that celebrated the victory of the general back in 1939. In Tortosa, the council is following procedures to change the name of a neighbourhood that refers to the day that the fascists conquered the town.

The Mayor of Barcelona calls the removal of the Franco sculpture 'an act of democratic normality'