The Technical Commission of Historical Memory of the Government of the Canary Islands met this Monday to analyze the commissioned paper on the proposal for a catalog of Francoist vestiges for Santa Cruz. A meeting in which the green light was given to continue with the processing of this document with the vote in favor of the majority of the attendees, with the exception of the Santa Cruz City Council, whose representatives, the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, and the first Deputy Mayor, Guillermo Díaz Guerra, voted against. From the Capital City Council it is clarified that they are not opposed to the content, but to the procedure followed, for which they provided a legal report that supports their position.
At the meeting, chaired by the Minister of Justice of the Government of the Canary Islands, Julio Pérez, the presentation made by Mercedes Pérez, representative of the Tenerife Historical Memory Association, was analyzed; Candelaria González, representative of the University of Las Palmas, and José Juan Pestano, from the Genetics Laboratory of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Las Palmas, who have had the technical advice of the sociologist and expert in Historical Memory Dailo Barco.
A presentation that, as explained to DIARIO DE AVISOS by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Juan Márquez, “ratified everything included in the catalogue”, thus maintaining the traces analyzed. “Only some shields were added that were not initially collected”, such as those in the windows of the Government Subdelegation and the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.
In addition to what Márquez referred to, the Ministry of Justice reported that the non-inclusion in the catalog of the revision of honors and distinctions was also exposed, understanding that it is not specific to the document, nor does it require its approval, but that it is competence and responsibility of each local entity to carry it out.
Reference was also made to some specific vestiges, such as the consideration of the report prepared by the Association of Quantity Surveyors of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in relation to the location of the bust of Joaquín Amigó. The report of the Association indicates that the recognition of Amigó is made for being the first president of the institution and that it has nothing to do with his time as mayor of Santa Cruz during the Franco period.
In addition, they point out that the bust is on private land, in the gardens of the College, so they request that it not be included in the catalogue.
Beyond these notes, as explained by the Deputy Minister of Culture, the meeting was held in a “productive and cordial” atmosphere, concluding with the majority approval of this phase of the administrative processing of the catalogue. “From the Vice Ministry we now continue with the work to complete the catalog with the rest of the municipalities throughout the Canary Islands thanks to the agreement signed with the ULL. Our intention is that at the next meeting of the Technical Commission the catalog corresponding to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria can be presented”.
Asked about the vote against Santa Cruz, Márquez pointed out that he does not know if the Santa Cruz City Council will take any action against this decision. “I can only say that there can be no more excuses to remove the Francoist vestiges,” said the deputy minister, who added that, given the capital’s claim that the catalog for the entire Canary Islands must be finalized before continuing its processing, “our services legal documents endorse the interpretation that we have made of the Law of Historical Memory of the Canary Islands, and that it is the preparation of a single expandable document, which has begun with Santa Cruz and will be followed by the rest.
Capital legal report
Santa Cruz also presented his own legal report defending the position so far expressed by the mayor that, before starting the removal of any element, it is necessary, “because that is the law”, that the catalog of the entire Canary Islands be completed. In the aforementioned report, the first point addresses an issue related to the Technical Commission itself, since “the call for the Commission that deals with this report could be flawed and be contrary to law if all the documentation was not available to the members called. necessary on the agenda”.
In a second point, it adds that “it does not correspond to the mandate of the regulatory law of the Law of Historical Memory in the Canary Islands the approval of a document for the cataloging of Francoist symbols, streets, monuments and mentions, other than a single catalog in the Canarian territorial area.
The third and final conclusion of the report is that “it does not correspond to the legal provision for the approval of the catalog and the performance of other actions that affect the collaboration of the Canarian town councils, without the existence of the prior approval of a Strategy for the Historical Memory of the Canary Islands”, that is, defining how the vestiges are removed and the financing for it.
Municipal sources assure that, in this phase, the City Council will not go beyond the vote against expressed this Monday. However, they do not confirm if, during the administrative process that is now open for the initial approval of the catalog, any type of action will be taken to stop its approval. The same sources also point out that, since there are two opposing legal positions, the logical thing would be for a third body to decide which one prevails.
The Santa Cruz City Council insists that it will comply with the law, but it wants to do so with all legal guarantees and avoid any type of claim that goes against municipal interests, since these differences in interpretation, it defends, could lead to some type of litigation not wanted.
The Minister of Justice, for his part, explained that, with the agreement adopted, the intended objective is achieved, which is to comply with the law, since it is not about applying a subjective criterion or a political opinion, but rather the law, and do so after “a serene, careful and constructive debate”, as happened this Monday.
