Spain back to the barricades over Civil War archive

[emad]

The Times
From David Sharrock in Madrid



THE right-wing Mayor of Salamanca has taken the extraordinary step of barricading the city’s Civil War archive to thwart a decision by Spain’s Socialist Government to return documents that General Franco seized from Catalonia.

Julián Lanzarote, whose city was Franco’s first military headquarters, acted within hours of an announcement by Carmen Calvo, the Culture Minister, that the Government would bow to Catalonia’s long-standing demand for the restoration of 300,000 files and 1,000 photographs seized by Franco’s secret police when Barcelona fell in 1939.

The barricades have gone up around the National Archive of the Civil War in Salamanca — which is in Castille y León province — after the city refused to comply with a government order to return the documents.

Metal fencing now encloses the elegant building in the historic quarter of Salamanca.

More:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1420181,00.html

[bemildred]

1. Tsk, I don't suppose that will work for long.

It will be interesting to see how the government handles this.