Pedro Blanco claims on the Day of Tribute to the Victims of Exile that “Memory is Democracy”

The government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, today claimed in the Casares Quiroga House Museum the government’s absolute commitment to memory policies “because Memory is Democracy”. On the occasion of the Day of Tribute to the Victims of Exile, which is celebrated on May 8, Pedro Blanco visited the Corunnese museum that recalls the former president of the Second Republic Santiago Casares Quiroga, “to remember the thousands of Galicians, men and women, who suffered exile as a result of the coup, the war and the Franco dictatorship.” It was accompanied by the subdelegate in the province, María Rivas, and the Councilor for Culture of the Concello de A Coruña, Gonzalo Castro.

“In these times in which the right and the far right are determined to hide, denigrate and equate victims with executioners, the Government defends Democratic Memory and human rights; because, precisely, this is what the law that drives it and that this Government developed, to dignify history to repair the damage of all victims, as comes from endorsing the UN,” said the delegate, who also highlighted, in this line, “the need for truth, justice and reparation” to “keep alive every day to democratic memory in Spain.”

The delegate recalled the firm intention of the Government to enforce the Democratic Memory Law throughout its territory, as stated by the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres. In this sense, he defined as “a setback” the so-called laws of concord of the Governments of Aragon, the Valencian Community and Castilla y León, “since they seek to silence the memory of the victims of the Franco dictatorship.”

The delegate stressed the importance of the actions that the Government is developing to repair and dignify the memory of all those who suffered the Franco repression, “financing investigations and exhumations, recovering spaces that were usurped to the citizens or promoting policies of memory with a firm and unrenounceable commitment.”

Implementation of the Democratic Memory Act

Article 8 of the Democratic Memory Act establishes May 8 as a Day of Tribute to the Victims of Exile. This date coincides with the definitive victory of the allied troops over the Nazis and fascists, ending the Second World War, a day commemorated in France as "Victory Day".

The government delegate stressed that, from 2020 until today, the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory financed activities for more than 435,000 euros in Galicia, almost 50% through the Xunta in the Sectorial Conferences, “which means an average of 103,000 euros a year for research, publications, recovery of spaces and exhumations.”

In this sense, the Pazo de Mearas is one of the referents of the recovery of the Democratic Memory of our country, recovered by the Government and that currently offers visits that serve to explain the reality of the recent history of Spain, from a democratic point of view.

The other great actions carried out in Galicia are exhumations, such as the one carried out in the city of Narón, with prospecting and locating works of up to 51 victims of Franco’s regime in collaboration with the University of Santiago, the Institute of Legal Medicine of Galicia (Imelga) and the Asociación Memoria Histórico Democrática. Also, in the grave of the cemetery of Viana do Bolo comes the exhume of the remains of a person who can be Annunciate Casado, a trade unionist recognized by the defense of the peasantry, and known as the Pasionaria Galician.