The main keys of the Democratic Memory Law that comes into force this Friday

This Friday, the Democratic Memory Law comes into force, after being published on Thursday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), a law approved with controversy and which, among other things, declares the Francoist regime illegal, affects the location of the disappeared and allows study possible violations of rights between 1978 and 1983.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
21 October 2022 Friday 00:34
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The main keys of the Democratic Memory Law that comes into force this Friday

This Friday, the Democratic Memory Law comes into force, after being published on Thursday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), a law approved with controversy and which, among other things, declares the Francoist regime illegal, affects the location of the disappeared and allows study possible violations of rights between 1978 and 1983. The process until its approval was not exempt from tensions between the Government and the parties that support it and the right formed by PP, Vox and Cs.

Law 20/2022 repeals Law 52/2007, which was promoted by the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Even so, the new norm picks up its legacy: some of the articles are expanded, more tools are given to implement them and it has a profound impact on areas not regulated until now. Next, we review the most important points of the new text:

The new law declares the Franco regime illegal (and all convictions during the dictatorship), arising from the 1936 coup, which is also rejected by the same text.

Another important novelty is that the law opens the door to study possible violations of human rights between 1978 and 1983; that is to say, between the approval of the Constitution and the first days of the socialist executive of Felipe González. The text establishes that the Government will promote, within a year, a technical commission to clarify whether these acts were committed against people who were fighting for fundamental rights and democratic values. The objective is that the study "indicate possible ways of recognition and reparation" to the victims.

The search for people who disappeared during the war and the dictatorship will fall to the State, which will promote a location map of the whole of Spanish territory.

Likewise, a State DNA Bank will be created, which will receive the genetic profiles of the victims of the war and the dictatorship in order to compare them and identify the victims. The DNA database will also serve those affected by the abduction of newborns.

The Valley of the Fallen is officially renamed the Valley of Cuelgamuros. The place is resignified and the adjacent crypts of the Basilica and the existing burials are considered a civil cemetery. The law determines that it will be necessary to relocate "any mortal remains that occupy a pre-eminent place" in a general way. As specified by the new law, the leaders of the 1936 military coup may not be located anywhere other than a cemetery, which refers to the remains of José Antonio Primo de Rivera and Gonzalo Queipo de Llano, among others.

The Cuelgamuros Valley will be part of the new State Inventory of Places of Democratic Memory, which will have an informative purpose.

The figure of a Chamber Prosecutor is created who will investigate the "facts that constitute violations of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law."

The concept of victims widens the fence and certifies that they are all those who "have suffered, individually or collectively, physical, moral or psychological damage, property damage, or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights", as well as their most direct relatives. Among the novelties, LGTBI people and those adopted without the consent of their parents are now considered victims.

Also included in this definition are the Catalan, Basque and Galician languages ​​and cultures, whose "speakers were persecuted for making use of these" are recognized by law. In this sense, the law explicitly admits the "policy of persecution and repression" against the aforementioned languages ​​and cultures and against Aragonese, Occitan and Asturian.

October 31 is established as the day of remembrance and tribute to all victims, while May 8 is declared as the day of remembrance and tribute to the victims of exile.

Public administrations must remove from public spaces symbols that are “contrary to democratic memory”. If it is in private buildings but with public visibility, their owners will be responsible for removing them. The law refers to constructions, shields, insignia and plates, among others.

One of the precepts included urges public administrations to withdraw the granting of awards and distinctions that "are manifestly incompatible with democratic values ​​and fundamental rights and freedoms." Likewise, 33 noble titles granted between 1948 and 1978 are suppressed.

The law that enters into force this Friday does not repeal the Amnesty Law approved in 1977. Even so, the text makes it explicit that all laws, including the Amnesty Law, are interpreted and applied in accordance with International Law and, in particular, the International Humanitarian Law, "according to which war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture are considered imprescriptible and not subject to amnesty."

The Government, of PSOE and United We Can, had the support of Más País, Bildu, the PNV and the PDeCAT in the vote in the Congress of Deputies. BNG and ERC abstained. Republicans considered it unambitious because, among other reasons, it did not mean the repeal of the Amnesty Law.

The Senate gave the final green light to the law in early October. The text remained intact regarding how it had left Congress, after the PSOE rejected more than 500 partial amendments

PP, Vox and Ciudadanos remained at all times in a frontal opposition to the law. The right-wing parties assure that "it breaks the consensus of the Transition" and has a "sectarian" vision of history.

The former Prime Minister José María Aznar came to describe it as "nonsense made by terrorists and agreed with terrorists." The law also did not receive sympathy from some socialist sectors. First it was also former president Felipe González, who said that, a priori, it did not sound good to him. Later, historical leaders of the PSOE signed a manifesto to criticize that the text "misrepresents the great constitutional pact."

Apart from the big parties already mentioned, Junts per Catalunya, the CUP and UPN also opposed the approval.