Madrid mayor to rid city of dictator Franco

The Local ^ | July 6, 2015 | Staff

[Brad from Tennessee]

Manuela Carmena, the new left-wing mayor of Madrid, is set to get rid of all street signs bearing references to the late dictator Francisco Franco, replacing them with the names of illustrious women and local heroes.

The plan is the latest in a long list of changes made by the city’s new mayor - a former communist judge who ran with left-wing coalition Ahora Madrid - during her first few weeks in the position.

Madrid City Hall announced a "participatory" plan in which neighbourhoods will vote for who they want their streets named after.

According to Spanish daily 20 minutos, Carmena is keen to exchange Francoist street names for those of illustrious women, such as novelist Emilia Pardo Bazán and iconic Republican leader Dolores Ibárruri, known as La Pasionaria.

Another idea is to allow residents of each neighbourhood to vote for which of the area’s illustrious residents they would like to see immortalized on street signs.

Over 150 streets, squares and public spaces in Madrid still bear names that commemorate or celebrate the 1936 military coup, the Spanish Civil War and its protagonists, according to a City Hall spokesman.

The City Hall has said their aim is to comply completely with Spain’s Historical Memory Law, which was passed in 2007 and included an official condemnation of the Franco regime as well as the removal of Francoist symbols from public buildings and spaces. . .

[Theodore R.]

Yes, Franco does look better than the world rulers today, but the American people have never heard of Franco.

[Impy]

I saw a segment on Fox News last night and the American people didn’t know who the first President of the US was.

“Lincoln?”

“Franklin?”

I’m surprised Obama didn’t get 75% of the vote.

[fieldmarshaldj]

They think it’s James Franco (or the character he briefly played, “Franco”, on General Hospital).