The Brotherhood of the Macarena awaiting instructions to exhume the Francoist General Queipo de Llano and it seems that he will receive them this Monday, as eldiario.es has advanced. The older brother of this Catholic association that brings together 17,000 faithful assured this Sunday that they are waiting to be told what to do. The Democratic Memory Law entered into force this Friday and does not set deadlines to exhume one of the most bloodthirsty generals of the Civil War. “It will be done at the right time & rdquor ;, they assured. Nevertheless, they want it to proceed “as soon as possible & rdquor; with the transfer of the remains.
The unearthing of the coup general could be carried out as in the case of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, whose family, up to 33 grandnephews, contacted the Government directly to request assume in private and without spotlights the exhumation of his remains from the Valley of the Fallen, to transfer them to another Catholic place that they have not revealed. The Brotherhood of the Macarena assured this newspaper that, until this Friday, no immediate family had contacted to assume the exhumation of Queipo de Llano and take care of its transfer to another private place, not exposed to the public. There are several grandchildren of the general who, to date, have decided to remain in the background. That would allow it to be done in family privacy and without television cameras.
It is something that the Brotherhood of La Macarena would also like, whose governing board confesses in private that it would prefer to end this issue now and of course not to turn the exhumation of the Francoist general into “a television show & rdquor ;, worried about the division that the matter generates between her brothers. Although the older brother Jose Antonio Fernandez Cabrero, has publicly said that they await instructions from the Government to proceed in accordance with the law, from the Ministry of the Presidency they limit themselves to pointing out that, once in force, the norm must be complied with. The Brotherhood points out that his brothers are divided on this matter and he wants to limit himself to carrying out instructions, so urges the Government to “arbitrate & rdquor; law enforcement.
A cemetery under the crypt
La Macarena already had a plan. Two years ago, November 2020, she premiered a columbarium that is located in the old sacristy of the Basilica, just below the dressing room of the Virgen de la Macarena. There the brothers can deposit their mortal remains and those of their relatives. It has capacity for more than 3,000 ballot boxes. Years ago, even before the inauguration of this space, in 2018, when the exhumation of Queipo de Llano was being thought about with the Andalusian law in hand, the Brotherhood approached that burial of which it was one of the great benefactors of the Brotherhood. In a statement at the time, the older brother insisted that they would comply with current legislation and that the decision would be adopted after a vote by their governing board and communication to the Archbishopric of Seville, always in agreement with the family. They also commissioned several legal reports to delve into how to ensure compliance with the standard.
That columbarium is already a reality and what is now opening up are doubts about whether or not burying Queipo de Llano in that space violates the new state law. The legal experts consulted by this newspaper agree that shouldn’t be a problem if the general is treated like another brother, he is not given any place of honor. They conclude that this is a legal burial that should not violate the norm of democratic memory.
thousands of visits
The Basilica de la Macarena is one of the most visited places in Seville, the third after the Alcázar and the Cathedral, according to the Brotherhood itself, which quantifies between 800,000 and one million visitors a year. In front of one of the altars of the Basilica, there are the tombs of Gonzalo Queipo de Llano and his wife, Genoveva Marti. The appearance of the tombstones has changed in recent years, as progress has been made in the awareness of historical memory and always with a purpose, to avoid exhumation.
At the beginning it read: “Here rests in the peace of the Lord the excellent lieutenant general Mr. Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra” and three dates: July 18, 1936, the day of the coup, and those of his birth and death (February 5, 1871 and March 9, 1951). They were stripped of all Francoist symbols, the date of the coup and the military charges were eliminated.
Article 38.3 of the brand-new Democratic Memory Law includes: “The mortal remains of leaders of the 1936 military coup may not be or remain buried in a pre-eminent place of public access, other than a cemetery, which may favor the holding of public acts of exaltation, exaltation or commemoration of the human rights violations committed during the War or the Dictatorship. It will be up to the public administrations to guarantee the provisions of this section”. That would mean that as long as the columbarium is a private place and acts of homage or exaltation are allowed, it would be equivalent to taking his remains to a cemetery.
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The Andalusian law of democratic memory, approved in 2017 without votes against, also pointed out that “when the elements contrary to democratic memory are placed in private buildings with projection or use in a public space, the owners of the same must remove them or eliminate them & rdquor ;. However, the Junta de Andalucía, both with the PSOE and with the PP, took refuge in a legal report that said that the tombs had been devoid of all Francoist symbols, by decision of the Brotherhood, in 2009.
Queipo de Llano was one of the most violent generals who contributed to Franco’s coup. His harangues in the microphones of the local radio record the bloody repression who led against the ‘reds’. He is in the Macarena in a place of honor because he was one of the great benefactors of the Brotherhood and the one who ordered the construction of the Basilica that houses it. He has been buried there for 71 years, since his death in March 1951. None of his four children survive and 11 grandchildren do live, who are between Madrid and Seville and who, with very few exceptions, have asked not to talk about their grandfather. One of the Sevillian grandchildren was in charge of the Fundación Pro Infancia Queipo de Llano, which has been exempt from activity for years. The former Minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, issued the title of marquis to one of his grandsons. A noble title that with the entry into force of the law will be automatically cancelled.