The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court has ratified the legality of the removal in January 2018 of the cross of the fallen of Callosa del Segura (Alicante), located in a public square in front of the Church, in application of the Law of Historical Memory.
The high court’s ruling dismisses the appeal filed by the Citizen Platform in defense of the Cross against the agreement of the town’s City Council, of January 26, 2017, which rejected a proposal from the municipal spokesperson of the PP to preserve the monument.
For the high court, which coincides with what was resolved in previous instances by a Court of Elx and by the Valencian Superior Court of Justice, in this case “we are faced with a religious symbol – cross – that contains elements that prevent it from recognizing a neutral value as a mere artistic or artistic-religious symbol”.
“On the contrary,” the ruling continues, “its presence in a public space allows us to appreciate an act of exaltation in that it contributes to highlighting the merit of that civil conflict with the inclusion of the list of deaths from only one side, which, implicitly, , also entails the disapproval of the opposing side in social perception.”
The magistrates point out that the case studied differs from those resolved in Galicia and Navarra referring to a cross and a monolith, respectively, since in those cases all the elements of exaltation of the Civil War and the dictatorship had been eliminated, so The contradiction defended by the appellants does not exist.
Nor does he share with the defenders of the maintenance of the cross that the matter is similar to the one resolved by the Supreme Court’s own ruling in 2014, since in that case, referring to the Cruz de la Muela de Orihuela, what was in question was whether the persistence Such a religious symbol compromised the nondenominational nature of the State and its neutrality, something that the Supreme Court denied.
The ruling that was announced today highlights that, as the Supreme Court rulings on the exhumation of the remains of Francisco Franco have stated, with actions such as the one relating to the Callosa de Segura cross “the aim is nothing more than to remove from the first plane whatever means, represents or symbolizes the civil confrontation. “This purpose is not incompatible with religious freedom nor does it imply denying or ignoring anyone’s beliefs.”
The Supreme Court points out as essential the fact, included in the proven facts, that at the base of the Cross or plinth a list of deceased persons had been maintained that prevents it from being considered neutral, despite the removal of a plaque referring to José Antonio Primo de Rivera and Falangist heroes.
