Gran Canaria complies with the Law of Historical Memory and the Francoist symbology is minimal

The 21 municipalities of Gran Canaria have gradually eliminated the symbology of the dictatorship and there are only a few references to the Franco regime, which will also be included in a catalog to force their immediate disappearance.

Streets named after coup plotters, yokes and arrows on social housing portals, pre-constitutional shields on military installations or plaques in cemeteries are some of those symbols that remain in Gran Canaria 46 years after the dictator’s death, thus breaching both laws of the Historical memory.

One of the most striking remains is found in the capital, in the heart of the commercial area, the Francoist shield of the eagle at the top of the door of the Naval Base, property of the Ministry of Defense and, therefore, outside the municipal responsibility.

It is one of the “pending fringes” on the Island, according to the historian Sergio Millaresbut nothing compared to what happens in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where the successive democratic mayors have not wanted or have not been able to withdraw the elements that exalt or recall Franco’s coup against the government of the Republic that came out of the polls.

Controversy

According to the catalog that has sparked controversy between the Vice Ministry of Culture and Heritage of the Autonomous Government and the Town Hall, in the capital of Tenerife there are 79 Francoist vestiges, probably more than in the rest of the Archipelago as a whole.

Millares, who in his time as councilor for Citizen Participation in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria promoted the latest changes made to the street map of the capital, to remove the names of military and political coup plotters, considered yesterday that the Santa Cruz catalog still You can do a screening to reduce that list of 79 elements and, for example, only remove the streets from the people most linked to the first stage of the Franco regime and with the repression, leaving those of professionals who only collaborated with the Franco regime, such as artists or architects.

What has happened in Santa Cruz, according to Millares, is that they have been discussing for many years who should be on that list and in the end they have not removed anyone. On the other hand, he recalled that the main references in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria dedicated to the caudillo, such as General Franco Street, current May Day, changed their name in 1979, with the first democratic municipal government, that of Manuel Bermejo. “In Santa Cruz they took the dictator’s street away in 2007, reluctantly and because he forced it by law,” Millares pointed out.

The historian believed that the criteria of the capital of Gran Canaria can be followed and opt for citizen participation, so that it is the social and neighborhood groups that propose the name changes in their streets. In the absence of executing some of these modifications, the last initiative adopted by the Las Palmas City Council, in 2017, consisted of drawing up a list of people closely linked to Francoism and the battles won by the coup side.

After listening to citizen proposals, the municipal government agreed to change the name of the streets Jesús Ferrer Jimeno, Calvo Sotelo, Provisional Alférez, Provisional Sergeant, Mario César and Juan Saraza Ortiz.

The initial proposal of the Historical Memory Advisory Council included other street names, such as Doctor García Castrillo, General Más de Gaminde, María Paz Sanz Tejera, Battle of the Ebro, Alto de los Leones, Battle of Belchite, Battle of Brunete, Battle of Teruel or Battle of Balaguer, but it was agreed to keep those names or leave them pending.

Since it is a case that also occurs in the street of Santa Cruz, Millares gave as an example the change of the street Calvo Sotelo, one of the parallels to the Guiniguada ravine, due to its name prior to the Civil War, El Progreso. The plates with the two names still shine in a corner of the Mercado de Vegueta. “The names of the streets should honor or remember people who stood out for doing good to society, what is not normal is that murderers are praised,” Millares pointed out.

Other municipalities in Gran Canaria have changed street names in the current mandate to comply with the two laws. Thus, San Bartolomé de Tirajana replaced the Avenue of Provisional Ensigns, one of the main arteries of Playa del Inglés, by Avenida 8 de Marzo. It will also look for another designation for Provisional Sergeants.

Less than a year ago, in May 2021, the City Council of the Villa of Ingenuity He proceeded to remove the last two Francoist symbols in the municipality, a plaque accrediting the National Housing Institute in the Bagacera social houses, and another in the building of the old doctor’s house, which now houses the municipal Equality service.

However, there are still Francoist plaques in social housing, such as those in San José de Las Longgueras, in Telde. They remain more out of carelessness of the town halls than out of a desire to break the norm. In other cases, such as the José Antonio building in the capital, better known as the house of the pussy, it is the neighborhood community that must remove the plaque from the portal and has not done so.

The controversy in Santa Cruz has forced the President of the Government of the Canary Islands to intervene, Angel Victor Torresto deny the existence of an insular lawsuit or an attempt to pit some municipalities against others, as the mayor of the capital of Tenerife insinuated, Jose Manuel Bermudezannouncing that he will use the catalog of the 79 Francoist vestiges because, in his opinion, it stigmatizes his city.

Torres assured, in statements to Radio Club Tenerife, that a catalog has not been made to benefit or harm anyone, but that it has started with the capital of Tenerife because it is one of the cities with the most vestiges. In this regard, he specified that the catalog of the rest of the municipalities will be completed this year.