The fiftieth anniversary of Francisco Franco’s death attracted a large group of teenagers and twenty-year-olds to the mass that those nostalgic for the dictator dedicated to him, as they have done for years, in the parish of the Twelve Apostles on Velázquez Street in Madrid. The ceremony brought together generations of all ages, to the surprise of some regular 20-N veterans. “It’s the first time that there are more young people than old people,” an elderly parishioner joyfully said as the queue to receive communion, which lasted more than 10 minutes, was full of young people and extended to the end of the temple. According to a 40dB survey, a quarter of young people believe an authoritarian regime is preferable in certain circumstances. for EL PAÍS and Cadena SER.
The dictator’s family and the Francisco Franco National Foundation, which the government intends to outlaw with the law on democratic memory, summoned Franco supporters of the old and new generations at eight in the afternoon, asking for “a prayer for his soul” and underlining in an obituary that “he died in a Christian manner in the service of his homeland”. “As always, maximum respect is required in carrying out this religious act”, asked the organization. Those present behaved in church with an act that lasted just over half an hour and in which the priest avoided pronouncing the typical homily in memory of the deceased. The only direct allusion was at the beginning, when he remembered that the mass was “for Francisco Franco”. All this meditation gave way to a barrage of proclamations to the tyrant peppered with Cara al Sol and other songs in the narrow access to the road.
The moment of maximum tension occurred when two Femen activists barged into the crowd thronging at the entrance to the church, chanting the slogans “Legal fascism, national shame” and “To fascism, neither honor nor glory”, which they carried on their banners and on their bodies. A street vendor at a merchandising stand promoting the glory of Franco and founder of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, touched the breast of one of the activists in front of the media. Several journalists, whose cameramen paid the price, were reprimanded while thundering “Spanish press, manipulative!”, the same slogan of the most radical independentists during the processes.
