The Association for the Defense of the Valley of the Fallen (ADVC) considers that the process of resignification of the Cuelgamuros Valley by the Government is a “profane mutilation” and assures that it will “everything that is necessary within the law to prevent its execution.”
On Tuesday, the Government announced the winning project of the international competition called to give new meaning to the Cuelgamuros Valley, which will eliminate the steps leading to the basilica and create an interpretation center to explain the circumstances of the construction of this Franco monument, where Francisco Franco remained buried until 2019.
In a press release sent to this newspaper, the association chaired by Pablo Linares has said that the planned changes “are gestures of symbolic revenge, not historical dialogue”, with which, in its opinion, the Government is trying to “impose a political and revanchist reading of the past.”
The demolition of the staircase and the alteration of the esplanade “are gestures of symbolic revenge, not of historical dialogue. Converting a place of prayer and rest into a museum center for propaganda It means attacking the memory of those who rest there and despising the architectural, artistic and spiritual value. of one of the most unique monumental complexes in Europe”, continues the ADVC text.
“In the name of democracy, an ideological rewriting of history is thus perpetrated, paid for with public money and carried out with a desire to erase, not to understand,” he reasons.
The Association for the Defense of the Valley of the Fallen warns that “it will not remain passive. It considers the proposal a direct attack on the foundational and spiritual meaning of the site, and publicly declares that it will do everything necessary, within the law, to prevent its execution. Our entity, which brings together relatives of those buried there and defenders of the monument, is preparing judicial appeals, mobilization campaigns and information actions to defend the integrity of the complex and the dignity of the monumental complex and of the fallen who rest there. We will not allow history to be manipulated or a sacred place to be violated,” he concludes.
“Unfortunate”, according to the ARMH
For its part, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH), one of the oldest entities dedicated to historical vindication and the recovery of remains of victims of the Franco regime, has harshly criticized the architectural project of resignification of the Cuelgamuros Valley.
The association describes as “regrettable” the intervention that the Government intends to undertake based on the project chosen by the jury in charge of evaluating the proposals submitted to the ideas competition called to give a new dimension to the mausoleum built during the Franco regime.
In the opinion of the ARMH, which at the time already requested the suspension of the contest, it is not understandable that an architectural reform is undertaken in the enclave – the winning project will involve the removal of the main staircase leading to the basilica – when it would be enough to simply “explain it” through information panels.
In a statement, the president of the association, Emilio Silva, affirms that the chosen proposal is a “superfluous” and “unnecessary” action to improve knowledge of the meaning of the Valley of the Fallen that Franco ordered to be built.
He also condemns the fact that “tens of millions” are going to be dedicated to this task and asks “what’s the point of spending that money” when the guides in charge of transmitting the vision of the monument use speeches that “whitewash” its history and that of Franco’s regime and without having the proper training, as is the case with those who perform the same function in the Nazi concentration camps.
“The Valley of the Fallen memorial is potentially unsuccessful and it would be better for the Government to spend that money searching for the families of the thousands of bodies that it has exhumed and that due to a wrong methodology it has not identified,” he concludes.
The winning project of the competition to re-signify Cuelgamuros has been drafted by the Pereda Pérez Arquitectos studios (Pamplona) and Lignum SL (A Coruña), and in addition to eliminating the main staircase, it proposes creating an interpretation center.