San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, Apr 24 (EFE).- The remains of the founder of the fascist Falange Española movement, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, were exhumed on Monday.

Primo de Rivera was shot in 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War began, after he was convicted by a popular court of conspiracy and military rebellion against the government of the Second Republic.

His death, at the age of 33, made him a mythical figure among the fascist rebels against the Socialist republic and later among supporters of general Francisco Franco’s regime.

Far-right supporters face the policemen while waiting for the funeral hearse with the mortal remains of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the fascist movement Falange, who was exhumed from the monumental memorial of Cuelgamuros Valley in San Lorenzo del Escorial at its arrival to San Isidro cementery in Madrid, Spain on 24 April 2023. EFE/Zipi

His tomb was in the basilica at the previously named Valle de los Caidos (‘Valley of the Fallen’), a triumphalist mausoleum that was erected after Franco’s victory in the 1936-39 Civil War.

The site, which became a symbol of Spanish fascism, has since been re-named Cuelgamuros Valley, as it was originally known, and can now only hold the remains of those who died as a result of the Civil War.

Primo de Rivera’s remains had been there since the mausoleum was opened 64 years ago. Franco would later be buried next to him.

Far-right supporters waiting for the funeral hearse with the mortal remains of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the fascist movement Falange, who was exhumed from the monumental memorial of Cuelgamuros Valley in San Lorenzo del Escorial at its arrival to San Isidro cementery in Madrid, Spain on 24 April 2023. EFE/Zipi

The dictator’s remains were exhumed in 2019 after the Spanish socialist government passed the Historical Memory Law, which addresses the legacy of the dictatorship that lasted from the end of the civil war until Franco’s death in 1975.

One of the law’s aims is to restore “justice, reparation and dignity” to the victims of the Spanish civil war and the fascist regime by removing symbols and monuments that honor fascist leaders such as Franco and Primo de Rivera.

The remains of the founder of the Falange will be reburied in the Madrid cemetery of San Isidro, the oldest in the capital, where other relatives are buried, such as his siblings Miguel and Pilar.

A hearse transports the mortal remains of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the fascist party Falange, who has been exhumated from the monumental memorial of Cuelgamuros Valley in San Lorenzo del Escorial, Madrid, Spain on 24 April 2023. EFE/Javier Lizon

Primo de Rivera’s exhumation began behind closed doors early on Monday morning, the 120th anniversary of his birth.

The coffin was taken to the cemetery in a hearse, escorted by the Civil Guard and by a long retinue of his relatives.

Around 100 people, including many onlookers, came to the gates of the cemetery of San Isidro to wait for the remains, several wearing T-shirts and armbands with Spain’s national flag, as well as Falange flags and symbols. EFE

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