1,287 Franquist Symbols Remain in Public Spaces Across Catalonia

• 1,287 vestiges of the Franco dictatorship remain in public spaces throughout Catalonia.
• Out of 3,988 documented elements, 2,012 have been removed, while 422 have been modified or recontextualized.
• The majority of remaining symbols are discreet housing plaques from the era, though larger monuments and commemorative stones also persist.

Distribution of Remaining Symbols

• Excluding Barcelona, the municipalities with the highest number of untreated elements are Banyoles (185), Reus (174), and Sabadell (118).
• Housing plaques, often bearing Falangist icons or symbols from the National Housing Institute, account for 84% (1,083) of all remaining Francoist elements.
• 18 monuments, primarily stone monoliths honoring the Nationalist side, remain without intervention, often found along secondary roads.

Removal and Reinterpretation Efforts

• Some sites have been reinterpreted rather than destroyed, such as the 45-meter Ebro Battle monument in Tortosa, which remains standing following a 2016 popular vote to maintain and redefine it.
• In Sabadell, a monument to former Francoist mayor Josep Maria Marcet was dismantled in 2017.
• The monument at Girona’s Provincial Council square was removed in 2009 and placed in storage after failed attempts at resignification.

Legislative Framework

• The Spanish Democratic Memory Law (20/2022) mandates the removal of elements exalting the military coup and the dictatorship.
• The Catalan government is currently processing a new regional law that also mandates removal and includes sanctions for glorifying the dictatorship.
• Jordi Font, director of the Democratic Memorial, emphasizes that the ultimate goal is to move beyond mere physical removal and convert these sites into educational tools for critical democratic citizenship.