The authoritarian past that refuses to recognize the crimes of the Franco regime emerged this Tuesday in Palma de Mallorca. The Parliament of the Balearic Islands met with the repeal of the Autonomous Law of Democratic Memory on the agenda. The standard is a regional version of the Democratic Memory Law which replaces the Historical Memory approved in the times of José Luis Rodríguez Zapateo, and which granted dignity to the victims of Francisco Franco and his totalitarian regime of almost forty years.
The ruling Popular Party and VOX agreed to repeal. The conservatives were able to form a government last year by allying themselves with the far right. In exchange, VOX obtained the presidency of Parliament, in the figure of Gabriel Le Senne, who starred in a reprehensible moment. Two Chamber officials, both from the PSOE, posted photos with victims of the Franco regime and Le Senne kicked them out of the room after telling her to remove the images. Also, she tore up one of the photos.
Mercedes Garrido and Pilar Costasecond vice president and second secretary, respectively, were located meters from Le Senne with the photos of the Rojas del Molinarfive women shot on January 5, 1937 in Palma de Mallorca (among the victims were a mother and her two daughters) and one of those shot, Aurora Picornell. This image was torn by Le Senne for everyone to see.
It all started when, after seeing the portraits, Le Sennne, in the middle of the session, ordered (he used that word) that the images be removed, in order, according to him, “maintain the neutrality of the table”. Garrido responded by inquiring based on which article they required him to take the photos.
“These portraits are here as an act of justice”Garrido started, which was interrupted by a threatening Le Senne, who threatened to expel her from the plenary session. She continued, remembering the murder of the women amidst applause. Before, Le Senne refused to speak to a deputy who wanted explanations.
In the midst of the applause, Le Senne took Garrido’s photo of Picornell and tore it up. Both Garrido and Costa left, and he denied explanations to the socialist bloc. On their benches, the PSOE deputies had photos of victims of Franco’s regime. Le Senne claimed that he had no problem with those images, but claimed “neutrality” at the table of the presidency of the chamber for his decision and provoked: “They already have the show they came for”.
Strictly speaking, Santiago Abascal, leader of VOX and host of Javier Milei in Spain, had promoted the government pact in the Balearic Islands with the PP in exchange for repealing the autonomous law.
Tempers were already heating up a week ago between VOX and the PP. The extreme right did not look favorably on the PP authorizing the hanging of a flag of the LGBTI community in the Parliament of the Balearic Islands and spoke of “betrayal” and “huge disappointment”.
What happened in the session did not go unnoticed in Spanish politics. Pedro Sánchez’s government announced that it is studying legal action against Le Senne. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court did not give the green light to the repeal of the law in Aragon, which would not make the process so easy in the Balearic Islands.
