Franco on the Canary Islands
The local government of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which is ruled by the right-wing Partido Popular, is refusing to remove a monumental statue of Franco–despite the fact that 2007 Law of Historical Memory orders the disappearance from public spaces of all symbols invoking the dictatorship. As Público reports, officials are arguing that the sculpture is actually not named after Franco but known as “The Fallen Angel.” The local chapter of the organization “Sí Se Puede” (Yes We Can) is pressuring the government to remove the statue. The historian Domingo Garí, speaking for Sí Se Puede, said: “In our opinion it is a political, historical, and cultural anomaly to maintain a monument to Franco of this kind in a democratically governed city.” (“Nos parece que sostener un monumento a Franco de estas características en una ciudad gobernada por fuerzas democráticas es una anomalía política, histórica y cultural”.)
