Four times buried – exhumation of José Antonio Primo de Rivera

¡José Antonio Primo de Rivera – Presente!

José Antonio was the boy of a Spanish dictator from 1923 to 1930, Miguel Primo de Rivera. He is well educated, well-read, and considered simply sympathetic and kind by many. He had many connections – he was friends with García Lorca, he worked with Miguel de Unamuno or Ramiro de Maeztu, and they enjoyed him, among others, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. The second even called him a genius and 1 of the most crucial characters Spain gave the world. erstwhile he was to be murdered by the leftist authorities, the British royal household and French Prime Minister Léon Blum intercede for him. 1 of the leaders of the anarchists, Buenaventura Durruti, who considered José Antonio to be the only healthy component on the nationalist side (sic!). The sympathy that he had had was in harmony with hatred and in harmony with it to this day. The authorities of the II Republic decided to get free of uncomfortable politics in 1936, condemning him to death.

He was a political idealist and romanticist – he came from the right, although he understood the left and wanted to combine social social sensitivity with Catholicism and Spanish nationalism. He stressed that he wanted those for whom there was no bread to identify with their homeland. He stressed many times that he understood why a working socialist movement was created, but he felt that the class conflict was disastrous. He sought an thought that would combine the 2 Spaniards, as was frequently called the division between the bourgeois right and the working left. José Antonio was active in a wide-ranging mainstream of national radicalism, from the nationalism of the second wave. Nevertheless, his inspiration with early Italian fascism, which appeared to him as an thought combining tradition and order with social justice, is besides undeniable. He clearly despised Nazism in which he was rejected by the deficiency of Catholicism, while racial issues were an aberration for him. In José Antonio's movement, they were black, and the leader himself inspired by nationalism theories hispanidad Ramiro de Maeztu, who unequivocally rejected racism to build an Ibero-American empire of religion [Catholic].

In 1933, José Antonio set up his movement – the Spanish Falanga, which little than a year later joins forces with the Junts of the National-Syndicalist Offensive. The united national-syndicalist movement repeatedly clashes on the streets with communist and anarchist militants during the unstable Second Spanish Republic. The political situation was very tense at the time, and Parliament de facto Paralyzed, and yet disbanded by Republican president Alcala Zamora. The Republican president then wanted to block the takeover of the government by the right, which was democratically given the most mandates in the Cortez. In 1936 an accelerated election was held, which was won by a broad coalition, consisting of both the Republican left and the Stalinists, wishing to transform Spain into a state like the USSR. Socialist leaders announced the revolution of the proletariat, and right-wing generals were preparing for the anti-government uprising.

Under these circumstances, José Antonio was thrown in jail for illegal possession of a gun, although there is simply a anticipation that it was planted on intent due to the fact that the far left government wanted to paralyze Falanga. Headed by the militia then murdered without the conviction of 1 of the leaders of the right-wing opposition, José Calvo Sotelo, from the environment Accion Española. This became the trigger for the outbreak of the Spanish civilian War. The Falangi leader was then charged with treason and sentenced to death. There were both protests and attempts to reflect under the Alicante prison. There was even a proposal for the socialist prime minister Francisco Largo Caballero to trade José Antonio for his son, who was the prisoner of insurgents. The utmost left-wing politician refused to accept this arrangement and chose the death of his son, and

In 1939 his next ceremony was held, this time a state ceremony – very high. The father of Spanish national radicalism rested among Spanish kings in a magnificent palace El Escorial. On that day, in schools and universities, classes were interrupted for a minute so that the full country would shout together: ¡José Antonio Primo de Rivera – Presente! His 3rd burial took place 20 years later, in 1959, after the tallness of the Valley of the Deceased, where the victims of the fratricidal civilian war on both sides of the conflict would rest. José Antonio's grave took an honorable place inside the basilica. As intended by General Franco Valley of the Deceased, it was to be a symbol of reconciliation, but after the fall of the dictatorship it became and is inactive the origin of political disputes in Spain.

Cold civilian War

The Frankist dictatorship in the 1970s did not collapse under the burden of a bloody revolution, coup or any another kind of coup. Frankism after the death of the gene. Franco fundamentally vanished into thin air, and this was due to far-reaching concessions from both sides. In item the scenes of the fall of Frankism describe in the 24th issue of “National Policy”. Over the years, efforts have been made not to decision excessively compromise historical policy, especially as Franco's dictatorship has stabilised the interior situation of an highly politically polarized country. Inflaming further conflicts could lead to tragedy.

However, in 2004, the left-wing PSOE, whose leader José Zapatero wants to usage the Spanish civilian war for political purposes, and besides has a individual request to rematch due to the fact that his grandpa died in conflict. It is worth mentioning that Zapatero's grandpa died at the hands of the Frankists due to the fact that he was a war criminal, but this is simply a item that the erstwhile Prime Minister does not move.

He omits the crimes of the another side and their frequently totalitarian ideological profile. This leads to the fact that the victims of the Frankist organization are exposed, and many murdered by communists or anarchists are silenced. The bill besides became an excuse to remove a symbolism that has no connection with the regime, but does not like left-wing authorities. 1 of the most fresh cases of this kind is the removal of the cross from the city park in Castellon by local authorities from PSOE. It was defended by representatives of the VOX organization and Christian lawyers. The centre-right People's organization was besides moderately opposed. The cross was removed, although it had no symbolism referring to fascism or dictatorship of Gen. Franco. It was just a cross in the park.

Removing the Cross in Castellon Fig. Twitter

However, it was removed due to the fact that it was erected in 1944, or during the regulation of the Frankists. This, of course, was simply an excuse to remove Catholic symbolism from urban space. To be precise, it should be admitted that the cross was erected in the 1940s for “the dead for God and Spain”, but in 1979 the City Council recognized that it was a monument to “all victims of violence”, so it remained de facto "defranked" in the spirit of compromise more than 40 years ago. The Historical Memory Law rejects the compromise and enters the anti-Frankist rematching tracks. It's a 2023 story. In fresh years, however, there have been many more. Generalissimos' last monument disappeared in 2021, and remains of street names and plaques associated with nationalists disappeared successively since 2007. Additionally, the process of exhumation and compensation for descendants of the Republican side was ongoing. The politicisation of the case by PSOE led to the reopening of wounds and the escalation of political tension, which contributed to the mobilisation of left-wing electorate on the government's side. Polarization of the political scene strengthened the power of the left, which raises the subject of anti-Frankist rematchism erstwhile it suits her.

"Moral superiority over dictatorship" – exhumation of Francisco Franco

In October 2019, more than forty years after General Franco's death, the authorities removed his body from the grave located in the honorary site of the Basilica of the Valley of the Deceased. "Democracy has shown its moral superiority over dictatorship," said Minister Félix Bolaños of PSOE summing up the excavation and transfer from the grave of the body of the erstwhile dictator.

The first effort to remove it took place in 2013. – then the ruling centre-right People's organization rejected the task of the left, guided by the policy of not scratching wounds.

Of course, the People's organization waited to enforce this provision, but only delayed the conviction on the General. In 2019, PSOE took over again and did not hesitate to carry out what its constituents expected. Negotiations on how to exhume continued. The Franco household expected, among others, that the coffin would be covered with the flag of Spain from the general's period of rule, as it was covered in 1975. The government disagreed. The disputes continued even as to how long the ceremony Mass was to be. Government officials wanted it to be as short as possible, and yet agreed to be equal to 30 minutes. The Catholic Church capitulated on this matter. Pope Francis agreed to dig up the corpses of the erstwhile country leader. The Archbishop of Madrid even withdrew a typical of the Catholic Church from the commission dealing with the Valley of the Deceased, taking Pilate’s attitude. Archbishop Antonio María Rouco Varela's spokesperson declared, "We have no opinion," thus washing his hands. The Prior of the Valley of the Deceased, Benedictine, Santiago Canter, opposed. The government organization informed that if it did not leave the opposition, they would “take him out of the basilica in handcuffs”. In time, the Prior besides succumbed.

On 24 October 2019, General Francisco Franco's body was transported by chopper to a cemetery in El Pardo to be buried in a household tomb at Mingorrubio Cemetery. The event was reported almost worldwide and did not lead to the reconciliation of the Spaniards.

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The tomb of the Falangi leader at the altar in the Basilica of the Valley of the Deceased is besides uncomfortable for the PSOE government. However, it was much more hard to exhume it due to the fact that it is simply a victim of the Spanish civilian War, and it did not fight in it due to the fact that it was stopped before it exploded. So it is hard to attribute any crime to him, and the will to remove it can only be justified by an unwillingness dictated by ideological prejudice. any members of the government's commission, which dealt with the Valley of the Deceased, even stated that José Antonio was not a victim, but an organizer of the uprising, although he was in prison during his blast and was shot as a prisoner by the Republican side during the civilian war.

The rulers wanted to decision the corpse of the leader of Falangi to “a little honorable place in the Valley of the Deceased”. For respective years there have besides been talks about the removal of Benedictines who have cared for the basilica and cemetery since the 1950s and the desacralization of the full complex. The Valley of the Fallen would lose its character and become only a municipal cemetery. However, the complex is topped by the world's largest cross, which is 152 metres long and is visible from 50 km.

In the face of this information, the Primo de Rivera household agreed to exhume their ancestor, asking that, according to his will, he be buried under the cross and on consecrated land in the Catholic rite. The transfer to another grave of the Valley of the Deceased at the time erstwhile it would be dechristianized would be contrary to the will of the deceased.

The 4th ceremony of José Antonio will take place at the Madrid Cemetery of Sacramental de San Isidro. He will be buried in his family's tomb, where he rests, among others, a well-known female activist of the Falangi section and his sister, Pilar Primo de Rivera.

You can hope that the founder Falange Española He'll yet remainder in peace. The Benedictine of the Valley of the Deceased cannot sleep easily. The dechristianisation of this place, called "democratisation" by the left, is highly probable. The question is whether it will be done before the national elections which will take place this year and in which the right can come to power.
Santiago Abascal, leader of the VOX party, stood respective times in defence of Primo de Rivera's memory. He accuses the left-wing government of hatred and desecration of graves. He besides stressed that José Antonio was fighting for a better Spain. The leader of the Spanish right besides recalled the desire expressed by the founder Falange Española Before I was shot: ,,I would like my blood to be the last shed Spanish blood in the civilian war.”

Sources: ABC.es, Europapress.es, Europeanconservative.com, ElPais.com, Vaticannews.va.

photo: wikipedia.commons