Franco veteran to join war parade
The Guardian - Tuesday October 12, 2004

http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,2763,1325173,00.html

Ben Sills in Madrid

Spain's Socialist government will make a controversial gesture of reconciliation today when the national day parade is led by veterans from both sides of the country's civil war.


The move has outraged leftwing politicians who feel Spain has not done enough to compensate victims of General Franco's dictatorship.


Spain celebrates its national holiday each year with a military parade, during which King Juan Carlos lays a wreath in memory of those gave their lives for the country.


This year, in a departure from tradition, he will be accompanied by relatives of those killed by Eta, the Basque terrorist group, and those who died in the Madrid bombing.


They will be joined by two veterans of the Spanish civil war, a former Republican who went o­n to join the liberation of Paris in 1944 and a nationalist who later became a member of Franco's Blue Division.


The Blue Division was a volunteer force that Franco sent to fight alongside the Germans near Leningrad in 1941, despite Spain's official neutrality.


"I'm not going to give anyone a hard time for what they did 60 years ago," José Bono, the defence minister, said yesterday. "It's far more important that we celebrate the fact that Spain is at peace today."


He added: "The people of Spain are worth far more together than they are divided and this approach shows much more solidarity and intelligence than trying to allocate blame ..."


However, the move has drawn fierce criticism.


"The defence minister is trying to put those who fought for freedom o­n an equal footing with the people who massacred them," said Gaspar Llamazares, the leader of the extreme left. "[The liberation of Europe] is part of the legacy of many Spanish republicans who gave their lives in the fight against the fascism of Franco and other European dictators. They are the people who deserve the recognition of the entire Spanish public and no o­ne else."



Spain did not conduct a formal reconciliation process after the dictatorship ended in 1975. Former fascists have maintained their roles in public life.


Joan Tarda, spokesman for the Catalan Republicans in the Spanish parliament, said that if the government was really committed to a process of reconciliation, today's gesture fell a long way short.


"True reconciliation means re-examining the past, punishing crimes against human rights, and providing compensation for the victims," he said.


This year's event will see 3,500 troops march through central Madrid accompanied by some 300 tanks and armoured vehicles, and a flyover.


In previous years a contingent of US troops has been invited as a display of solidarity after September 11. This year French troops will be the main foreign participants in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Paris.


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