AP Interview: Franco grandson blasts Spain over exhumation
The grandson of late dictator Gen. Francisco Franco says that Thursday's planned exhumation of his grandfather's body is a "profanation" and that Spain's interim government wants to turn it into a rally before a Nov. 10 general election.
Francisco Franco Martínez-Bordiú spoke to The Associated Press hours before Franco's remains are due to be moved from a grandiose mausoleum to a more discreet cemetery. He also said that "Spain is under the dictatorship of political correctness."
Martínez-Bordiú said that "it's an all-out desecration," accusing judges who ruled in favor of the reburial of being accomplices in the Socialists' "electoral campaign."
Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco's grandson, Francisco Franco Martinez-Bordiu speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. Weather permitting, the Spanish dictator's preserved body will be flown Thursday by helicopter to the Franco family's private chapel in the Mingorrubio cemetery. It's a discrete site compared to the Valley of the Fallen, a vainglorious mausoleum and basilica that Franco built and where he was buried in 1975. The complex, which is topped by a 152-meter (500-foot) granite cross that can be seen for miles, still remains a National Heritage site. (AP PhotoPaul White)
The government says that no dictator should be enshrined in a state mausoleum.
Franco's relatives are attending the private exhumation.
Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco's grandson, Francisco Franco Martinez-Bordiu, right, and his son Alvaro hold up a pre-constitutional Spanish flag they want draped over the coffin General Franco during his reburial Thursday after an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. Weather permitting, the Spanish dictator's preserved body will be flown Thursday by helicopter to the Franco family's private chapel in the Mingorrubio cemetery. It's a discrete site compared to the Valley of the Fallen, a vainglorious mausoleum and basilica that Franco built and where he was buried in 1975. The complex, which is topped by a 152-meter (500-foot) granite cross that can be seen for miles, still remains a National Heritage site. (AP PhotoPaul White)
Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco's grandson, Francisco Franco Martinez-Bordiu speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. Weather permitting, the Spanish dictator's preserved body will be flown Thursday by helicopter to the Franco family's private chapel in the Mingorrubio cemetery. It's a discrete site compared to the Valley of the Fallen, a vainglorious mausoleum and basilica that Franco built and where he was buried in 1975. The complex, which is topped by a 152-meter (500-foot) granite cross that can be seen for miles, still remains a National Heritage site. (AP PhotoPaul White)
Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco's grandson, Francisco Franco Martinez-Bordiu speaks next to a family photo showing General Franco during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. Weather permitting, the Spanish dictator's preserved body will be flown Thursday by helicopter to the Franco family's private chapel in the Mingorrubio cemetery. It's a discrete site compared to the Valley of the Fallen, a vainglorious mausoleum and basilica that Franco built and where he was buried in 1975. The complex, which is topped by a 152-meter (500-foot) granite cross that can be seen for miles, still remains a National Heritage site. (AP PhotoPaul White)
Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco's grandson, Francisco Franco Martinez-Bordiu speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. Weather permitting, the Spanish dictator's preserved body will be flown Thursday by helicopter to the Franco family's private chapel in the Mingorrubio cemetery. It's a discrete site compared to the Valley of the Fallen, a vainglorious mausoleum and basilica that Franco built and where he was buried in 1975. The complex, which is topped by a 152-meter (500-foot) granite cross that can be seen for miles, still remains a National Heritage site. (AP PhotoPaul White)