Aurora Luque on historical memory

The Spanish writer Aurora Luque supports a plan devised by the government to recognise, and extend, the rights of victims of the civil war and the Francoist dictatorship. "It is absurd (or rather a form of self-seeking lunacy) to believe that one is seeking to destroy the spirit of the Transition [initiated after Franco's death in 1975]. The act of paying tribute to those who were anonymously shot in the post-war period is not going to trigger the implosion of the democratic regime or lead to the demonisation of the centre-right by making it the criminal behind the dictatorship (as some have written). ... The post-war period, with hunger, vengeance, repression, conformist thinking, the destruction of intellectual wealth and the abolition of freedoms was one of the worst periods in Spain's history. We must hope that our children will not be obliged to watch foreign documentaries to learn about it."

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Spain