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"Experts propose to exhume Franco,"headlines El Periódico. The daily reveals part of the report, commissioned by Prime Minister José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero last May, on the future of theValle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen), which has been prepared by a group of 12 historians and legal experts. The cemetery, where Francisco Franco is entombed, is also the resting place of approximately 33,000 victims of the Spanish civil war (1936-1939). The centre-left daily explains that one of the report’s proposals is to transfer Franco’s remains to a civilian cemetery close to Madrid, where his wife, Carmen Polo, is buried — a solution that has been welcomed by some members of Franco’s family.
If this is done, El Periódico argues that the Valle could then become "a monument dedicated to the cause of reconciliation," which would allow for the "recognition of the memory of victims, in accordance with the Historical Memory Law" — introduced by José Luís Zapatero's government. However, the proposal "is not included in the definitive conclusions" of the report, whose publication is not scheduled until after general elections to be held on 20 November. "It remains to be seen if Mariano Rajoy [the candidate presented by the right-wing opposition PP party] will respect the decision of a commission created by a socialist government, which raises an issue as controversial as the exhumation of the former dictator," notes El Periódico.
