Spain to offer compensation to victims of Franco dictatorship
The cabinet of Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero announced plans to strengthen legislation designed to "right the wrongs" of the past and heal wounds that still exist in Spain more than seventy years after the start of a conflict that tore the nation apart.
Those who were persecuted, imprisoned, or executed during the 1936-39 conflict and ensuing four decade fascist dictatorship will be officially declared "victims" and their relatives will be able to apply to the courts for a certificate of recognition.
The families of those found guilty of opposing the dictatorship and handed arbitrary sentences by military courts between 1968 until Franco's death in November 1975 could be entitled to compensation up to 135,000 euros (£100,000).
The new measures also recognise the role of foreign volunteers in the struggle against fascism and will make it easier for those few remaining members of the International Brigades to obtain Spanish nationality. It is thought that less than 200 of the estimated 32,000 foreign volunteers who fought alongside Republican troops are still alive.
The details were announced in four "royal decrees" requested by the government on Friday as part of the controversial Law of Historical Memory that was brought in last year.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Those who were persecuted, imprisoned, or executed during the 1936-39 conflict and ensuing four decade fascist dictatorship will be officially declared "victims" and their relatives will be able to apply to the courts for a certificate of recognition.
The families of those found guilty of opposing the dictatorship and handed arbitrary sentences by military courts between 1968 until Franco's death in November 1975 could be entitled to compensation up to 135,000 euros (£100,000).
The new measures also recognise the role of foreign volunteers in the struggle against fascism and will make it easier for those few remaining members of the International Brigades to obtain Spanish nationality. It is thought that less than 200 of the estimated 32,000 foreign volunteers who fought alongside Republican troops are still alive.
The details were announced in four "royal decrees" requested by the government on Friday as part of the controversial Law of Historical Memory that was brought in last year.