A true city of the dead, five million bodies lie buried in Madrid’s Our Lady of the Almudena Cemetery. And bar the towering cypresses, it’s a monochrome landscape of powerful granite tombs and austere crucifixes. Winding through the graves, half lost, I finally glimpsed a flash of colour. Red, yellow and purple - the flag of the Spanish Republic. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Second Spanish Republic. A short lived affair, running from 1931 to 1939, the Republic was ring-fenced by dictators. And for many left-wing Spaniards it represents an oasis of progressive secular government - women’s rights, civil marriage and divorce, clear Church and state separation - before … [Read more...] about Spain’s buried past
spain dictatorship
Garzón appeals to Strasbourg over prosecution for Franco-era probe
Judge Baltasar Garzón has filed a case to the European Court of Human Rights challenging the lawfulness of his prosecution for opening an investigation into crimes committed during the Franco era. Judge Garzón was suspended from his position in the High Court in May of 2010 pending the outcome of his trial for abuse of power. No date has been set. In 2006, in line with his role as one of six investigating judges at Spain’s High Court, Garzón began a preliminary investigation following requests by the families of victims of repression by the Franco regime to ascertain the legality of a prosecution. His analysis of Spanish law, as well as the body of developed international law in this … [Read more...] about Garzón appeals to Strasbourg over prosecution for Franco-era probe