A few months after the 85th anniversary of his appointment as Gipuzkoa’s favorite son, the Provincial Council of this territory has stripped Francisco Franco of that honor, which he held almost half a century after his death.
The Governing Council of the foral institution has decided to “revoke and suppress the recognitions, honors and distinctions related to the exaltation of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco Bahamonde”. The decision involves withdrawing the title of favorite son of the province from the dictator, approved by agreement on July 1, 1939, as well as suppressing his appointment as honorary president of the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, which was approved on July 23, 1945. .
In this way, Gipuzkoa, one of the “treasonous provinces” for the regime, ends a situation that the foral institution has described as “manifestly incompatible” with democratic values ??and with fundamental rights and freedoms, and which suppose an exaltation of military uprising, war or dictatorship”.
The spokesperson for the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, Eider Mendoza, recalled that in April 2022, before the approval of the Democratic Memory Law, the Provincial Council went ahead of the regulations and commissioned the historian Iñigo Imaz to carry out an investigation.
The objective was to search for documentary references on the appointments made between 1937 and 1975 in favor of the Franco regime and the honorary titles granted in the same historical period.
This investigation, which was made public at the General Meetings, has led to the withdrawal of some of these titles.
Mendoza has indicated that all the people who received honors are dead, so it has not been considered necessary to return the objects that were given to them such as medals or command sticks.
On the other hand, the report refers to a series of plaques or busts, which are elements that have already been removed or that have been previously acted upon.