The Government of the Canary Islands conducted a hearing yesterday regarding the cancellation of the register of Francoist symbols, streets, monuments, and references within the territorial boundaries of the Tenerife capital. This dossier was initially endorsed by the former progressive Administration and the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council. However, through the Autonomous Organization of Culture, they contested it on July 7, 2023, after Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez objected to its exclusivity to the city and not extending to other municipalities.
Yesterday, the Government officially announced in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC), the publication of the resolution issued by the General Directorate of Culture and Heritage on April 19. This resolution sided with the city council’s request to annul the aforementioned register. The list included 79 Franco-era remains that were supposed to be eradicated from the city’s streets, such as the Our Lady of Africa-General Serrador Bridge market (1943), the monument to the Fallen (1947), and the monument to Franco (1966). It also consisted of nine streets and spaces, as well as names of three neighbourhoods.
The General Director of Culture, Miguel Ángel Clavijo, stated that it was legally sound to comply with this request under the provisions of the Law of Common Administrative Procedures of Public Administrations. This action rendered the initial mandate issued by the former Ministry of Education legally void.
Mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, remarked that due to the legal setbacks faced by the previous Administration in court following the publication of the Franco-era register, the current Government had no choice but to retract it.
The councillor explained that the catalogue, proposed by the socialist Administration, “was inadequately approved from the start, targeting only Santa Cruz, and was executed in a completely disproportionate manner.”
Therefore, he commended the Government’s decision (led by CC and PP) which, “finally vindicates us, as it consistently supported us in court,” as the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, in two cases, provisionally suspended it upon the city council’s request and from organisations advocating for the Recovery of Historical Memory Roots and the Research and Protection of San Miguel Arcángel’s Historical Heritage.
Process
The resolution mandates the commencement of the hearing process for stakeholders, allowing a period of ten business days for them to present arguments, documents, and justifications relevant to the cancellation dossier. The documentation can be accessed at the General Directorate of Culture offices in the two Canary Islands capitals or requested via email.
The register of Franco-era remains in the Canary Islands, centred only on Santa Cruz, comprises 3,000 pages detailing monuments, sculptures, artefacts, crests, inscriptions, gravestones, street names, urban areas, and associated accolades (medals, honorary titles, or children adopted or favoured by individuals involved in the Army’s coup d’état, the Civil War, and the dictatorship’s repression).
Furthermore, the investigation, led by History Professor Maisa Navarro alongside academics Ricardo A. Guerra and Yolanda Peralta, made several recommendations including the removal of the Franco monument. Specifically, both the base, deemed “a symbol of Tenerife’s contribution to the military insurrection,” and the archangel figure symbolising Franco’s journey to Tetouan (Morocco) to initiate the war aboard the Dragon Rapide plane, as well as the general represented as a young man in a tunic alluding to the national flag wielding a sword resembling a cross.
