The Congress of Deputies will hold this Friday the institutional event that it dedicates each year to the victims of terrorism. However, once again Vox and several of the main victims' associations will not be present at the ceremony, as they reject the participation of Bildu in the tribute.
The commemoration is scheduled for 12:00 PM. The program includes the speech of the president of the Foundation of Victims of Terrorism, Juan Francisco Benito Valenciano, as well as a speech by the president of Congress, the socialist Francina Armengol.
Fifteen years of institutional tribute
This tribute has been held for fifteen years, when the then president of the Chamber, José Bono, promoted it coinciding with the Day of Victims of Terrorism (June 27), a date set at the proposal of the associations.
On June 27, 1960, a 22-month-old girl died burned inside a car after the explosion of a device placed by the Iberian Revolutionary Directorate of Liberation (DRIL) at the San Sebastián bus station.
The president of the Lower House will be in charge of leading the event, accompanied by different representatives of the victims' collective. However, several of the most representative associations have reiterated that they will not participate in the institutional event this year either.
In this regard, the AVT has confirmed to Europa Press that it will not attend the tribute because it understands that it cannot be part of a ceremony in which "victims have no voice" and in which Bildu will be present, a party that "has not unequivocally condemned ETA's terrorist trajectory".
The Collective of Victims of Terrorism (Covite) has cited the same reasons to justify its absence, a stance it has maintained since this recognition began to be organized in 2011 and which, in its opinion, remains "fully valid": the presence in Congress of Bildu, "which continues to not clearly and unequivocally condemn ETA's terrorism".
Criticism of the event's format and Vox's absence
For its part, Dignidad y Justicia has decided to snub Congress because it considers that this institutional event is organized "behind the backs" of the victims of terrorism, because they are not "mere flowerpots" and because it is not willing to share this "charade" with the "political arm" of the terrorists, "which today sustains the Government".
Regarding the parliamentary groups, the presence of representatives from the majority of formations is foreseen, with the exception of Vox, which has already announced that it will not attend the tribute this year either for reasons similar to those put forward by victims' associations, according to party sources.
After several years being held in different spaces, such as the Constitutional Chamber or the Hall of Lost Steps, the previous president of Congress, the also socialist Meritxell Batet, decided in 2019 to return the event to the hemicycle to give it greater visibility and the maximum institutional solemnity.
However, with the arrival of Francina Armengol to the Presidency, this act of remembrance for the victims of terrorism returned to the Constitutional Chamber, a location that is maintained today.