Spain's High Court To Rule On Late Dictator Franco's Exhumation On September 24

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2019) Spain's Supreme Court will rule on the exhumation of former dictator, Francisco Franco's, remains on September 24.

According to a court document obtained by Sputnik, the Supreme Court is currently reviewing an appeal made by Franco's family against a previously made ruling to exhume Franco's remains from their current resting place at the "Valley of the Fallen" memorial to the Mingorrubio El Pardo cemetery.

Franco's family want the former Spanish leader to remain in the memorial or, as the only alternative, to be transferred to the La Almudena cathedral in central Madrid.

The exhumation of Franco's remain was initially set to take place on June 10 but was postponed by the Supreme Court days before the date, giving the former dictator's family more time to pursue their appeal.

The Spanish government maintains that the "Valley of the Fallen" memorial monument should house only the remains of people who died as a result of the Spanish Civil War, and not the late dictator's, whose regime oversaw thousands of executions. In 2018, Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said that democracy was not compatible with a state tomb that honored the memory of Franco.