The Congress of Deputies will host next Wednesday a memorial event for the victims of Francoism on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of the Military Coup, the Civil War, and the Dictatorship, which is celebrated every October 31. On this occasion, the commemoration will take place with the portraits of the presidents of the Francoist Cortes already removed from the gallery of the Palace.
The president of Congress, the socialist Francina Armengol, will lead the ceremony at five in the afternoon in the Hall of Lost Steps. There she will deliver an opening speech before giving way to a conversation between historians and researchers María Rosón Villena and Sescún Marías Cadenas.
In this edition, tribute will be paid to "Las rapadas" of Fuendejalón (Zaragoza), an episode of Francoist repression in which 39 women were taken from their homes, shaved, and displayed in the streets as punishment and humiliation for their condition, their ideas, or their family and political ties. The figure of the republican mayor of that municipality, María Domínguez, executed by Francoist troops, will also be evoked.
Memory of "Las rapadas" and removal of portraits
The event will conclude with a puppet theater piece titled "Melón pelado," by the company ButacaZero, written by Esther Fernández Carrodeguas and directed by Xavier Castiñeira, as indicated to Europa Press by parliamentary sources.
The main novelty is that this tribute to the victims of the Civil War and the dictatorship will take place without the portraits of the presidents of the Francoist Cortes that hung in the Congress gallery. This responds to a demand that nationalist and leftist parties have been raising for years and that has now been adopted by the socialists.
With this decision, the agreement adopted on the 13th by the Congress Table is executed, supported by PSOE and Sumar and with the abstention of PP.
The removed portraits correspond to Esteban de Bilbao and Eguía (1943-1965), Antonio Iturmendi Bañales (1965-1969), and Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel and Nebreda (1969-1975), who presided over the Cortes during the dictatorship. In contrast, the portrait of Torcuato Fernández Miranda is maintained, as he is considered a key figure in the dissolution of those Cortes and in the political reform that opened the Transition.
A historical claim since the nineties
The removal of these portraits was first proposed in the nineties by the PNV deputy Iñaki Anasagasti and, since then, has been reiterated by Bildu and various leftist forces, appealing to the memory of the victims of the Franco regime.
In 2023, Bildu pushed for a vote to eliminate these portraits and also those of Manuel Fraga, former minister of the Franco regime and one of the "fathers" of the Constitution. The proposal was rejected by PSOE, PP, and Vox, who argued that the gallery of portraits in Congress was not affected by the Memory Law as it is not a public space and does not include military or ministers directly linked to repression, which are the ones mentioned in the regulation.
More recently, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH) addressed the president of Congress to demand the removal of those portraits, even suggesting the possibility of taking legal action for a possible violation of the Memory Law.
Towards a "Francoist Symbol-Free" Congress
So far, the response from PSOE had been negative or silent. However, on this occasion, with the Cortes already dissolved, the socialists have accepted the request made by the representative of Sumar in the Permanent Deputation Board, Esther Gil de Reboleño.
With the removal of these portraits, in addition to advancing in the compliance with the Democratic Memory Law and leaving Congress "Francoist Symbol-Free," the door is opened to incorporate, when appropriate, the portraits of the former president of Congress Meritxell Batet and of Armengol herself, as well as those who hold the Presidency in fully democratic stages.