Sixty-four years after being deposited next to the high altar of the Valle de los Caídos basilica, the remains of the founder of the Falange, Primo de Rivera, will be removed this Monday from the renamed Valle de Cuelgamuros.
Just as happened with Francisco Franco, the exhumation of Primo de Rivera is part of compliance with the law of Democratic Memory. But this is where the similarities between the two exhumations begin and end since, unlike what happened in October 2019 with the remains of the dictator, the family of the considered martyr of the coup side has opted for maximum discretion.
The operation, just on the day that marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of the Falangist leader, will be carried out with the temple closed and barred and with the only presence of relatives and the workers in charge of raising the large slab that covers his grave . The prior of the Benedictine abbey, Santiago Cantera, will pray a responsor before the coffin leaves the mausoleum heading for the San Isidro cemetery, where after the cremation the remains will be deposited next to those of other relatives, such as his siblings Miguel and Pilar.
There will, therefore, be no helicopters, no nostalgic cheers on the main esplanade, or, in short, none of that paraphernalia that surrounded the removal of Franco's remains in 2019 on a day with a climate of tension that be heated in the previous days by the devotees of the regime. On the contrary The descendants were ahead of any government action and as soon as the rule was approved they communicated their intention to exhume him by requesting a construction permit from the City Council of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
Although it is an express request of the family, the Francisco Franco National Foundation has described the exhumation of the remains of the founder of the Falange as a "ruinous and civil war action by the Government" and they have labeled its president, Pedro Sánchez, of "undisputed world champion of infamy" for his "miserable" action.
