How To Get Rid Of A Dictator 40 Years After His Death

Dictator Francisco Franco died more than 40 years ago. After staging a coup against a legitimate, democratic government, leading the country into a brutal civil war and ruling for almost four decades with an iron fist, he died pleasantly in his bed.

The personal cult he carefully implemented during his dictatorship is mostly gone: statues, names of streets and squares... However, there are still two things Spain hasn't been able to properly deal with: Finally getting justice for all those who 'disappeared' during and after the war.

'El Valle de los Caídos', the Valley of the Fallen, located in northern Madrid, is a huge monument built by the forced labour of political prisoners and for the glory of the dictator. That was the place chosen by Franco to be buried – and that's still where his remains are. But maybe not for much longer.

The new government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced they want to transfer the remains of the dictator. The Valley of the Fallen, Sanchez said, should be transformed into "a mausoleum for victims of fascism."

The conservative People's Party (PP) has always tried to block every attempt to deal with Spain's troubled past claiming they don't want to open old wounds of the Spanish society. During their seven year mandate, they effectively overturned the Historical Memory Law passed by the previous socialist government. However, the PP cabinet led by former PM Mariano Rajoy was recently ousted after a no confidence vote.

Now, despite having only 84 MPs in a chamber of 350 members, the socialist PSOE party is back in power.

So can they really do that? As El País reports, even though the PSOE doesn't have a majority in the Spanish Congress, for this issue in particular they could gather enough support from other parties.

Franco's remains and El Valle de los Caídos is just one symbol of a bigger picture: In Spain, the figure of a bloody dictator is still honoured by individuals and organisations.