18 July 2006
(Translated from report of Antifascist Coordinator Madrid)
On 18 July 2006, on the 70th anniversary of the fascist attack against the popular and legitimate government of the Spanish Republic, antifascists in Madrid removed the Falangist street sign "Arriba Espana" and returned it to it�s original name Plaza de Blasco Ib��ez.
The name "Arriba Espana" glories in the blood spilled by the fascists and is an insult to the victims of the Franco. The equivalent in Germany would be a square named "Sieg Heil Platz", but incredibly, there are 167 streets in Madrid still named after the assassins, rapists and torturers of the fascist coup d'etat. They commemorate the leadership of the fascists who were responsible for the death of almost one million people during the1936-39 war, 200,000 between 1939-75 and the imprisonment of more than a million during the same period.
How is it possible that 30 years after the death of the dictator Franco, monuments, symbols and streets in the Spanish state are still dedicated to his fascist regime? How many monuments to Adolph Hitler are still standing in Berlin, how many streets in Rome named after the fascists?
It stems from the agreement made between most of the left and reformist sectors of the pro-Franco dictatorship during the Spanish post-Franco political transition to �democracy�. In return for access to institutional power, the thousands of people assassinated during 40 years of terror were forgotten and social rights were subjugated to business priorities. The monarchy and its flag (also a symbol of the dictatorship) were imposed, the right of self-determination of regions denied and the aspirations of the Popular Republic ignored. The dictatorship accepted this pact, but not before also demanding and receiving a "Law of Amnesty" so that not one of Franco's criminals was ever brought to justice. On the contrary, they still infest the institutions of state, the army, the police, in the judicary, the boards of public and private companies.
On 3 November 2004, the Congress of the Deputies, approved a resolution to rid Spanish streets of all symbols of Francoism that still persist in Spanish municipalities. However, nearly two years after this resolution the Madrid authorities have still done nothing to remove these reminders of pro-Franco terrorism from Madrid streets and by continuing to keep these symbols must still consider the dictatorship of Franco as something legitimate.
This action was taken by Madrid antifa because of the futility of waiting for any action by the public institutions, they have already demonstrated their incompetence and inclination to do nothing for more than 30 years. Only by actions such as this will the necessary pressure be placed on city councils to eliminate street names imposed by the pro-Franco dictatorship and to restore them to their true names.
