The remains of Spain’s General Francisco Franco were exhumed on Thursday and moved from a grand mausoleum to a private family vault.
A heavy granite slab was moved by a crane from the tomb where the fascist dictator was laid to rest in a ceremony attended by a select few people including 22 of his family members, Spain’s justice minister and a priest.
His coffin was carried out of the basilica of the Valley of the Fallen to a car by his grandsons, while relatives saluted it with a cry of “Viva Franco!”
The Valley of the Fallen is a huge monument built on Franco’s orders around 64 kilometres from Madrid which houses the remains of more than 30,000 fighters from both sides of the Spanish Civil War.
The 1936-1939 war, fought between Franco’s nationalist forces and the Republican government of the time, killed 500,000 people. Franco’s forces won the war and he ruled over Spain as dictator until 1975.
The Valley of the Fallen, which houses thousands of Franco’s victims in unmarked graves, was built by forced labour.
The decision to move Franco’s body has caused controversy in Spain, where his legacy sparks deep division.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose government had pledged to relocate the dictator, won backing to remove the remains from the mausoleum.
Mr Sánchez said last month that removing the remains was “a big victory for our democracy”.
“It was nonsense to have a monument to a dictatorship that did so much damage to our citizens for 40 years,” he said in an interview in New York.
The exhumation was contested by Franco’s family who lost a Supreme Court battle to keep his remains in the Valley of the Fallen.
Juan Chicharro, chairman of the National Francisco Franco Foundation, said Franco’s supporters would continue to fight to preserve his legacy.
“Mr Sanchez has brought back to life a division between Spaniards that didn’t exist,” he told state broadcaster TVE in an interview. “What we are seeing is nothing more than a partial victory — the war will continue.”
Critics of Mr Sánchez said the move was a political stunt ahead of Spain’s November 10 elections designed to draw attention away from tensions in Catalonia, which has seen violent demonstrations since the jailing of nine separatist leaders for their part in a failed independence bid.
Franco’s grandson, Francisco Franco y Martinez-Bordiu, said he was angry with the government’s decision.
"I feel a great deal of rage because [the government] has used something as cowardly as digging up a corpse as propaganda, and political publicity to win a handful of votes before an election," he told Reuters.
But for descendants of Franco’s victims, the move could not come soon enough.
Nicolas Sanchez-Albornoz, 93, who was a prisoner of Franco's regime and was forced to help build the Valley of the Fallen, said the exhumation was “long overdue”.
"We've waited many decades for (him) to disappear from this monument, which ... was the shame of Spain. All the dictators of Franco's ilk have vanished from Europe -- Hitler, Mussolini -- and were not honoured with such tombs," he told Reuters.
The Spanish people appear to be divided over the decision. An El Mundo poll this month said 43 per cent supported the move, with 32.5 per cent against and the rest undecided.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.