The beginning of the removal of the cross from the monument to the Fallen of Castellón faces supporters and detractors

“To the Fallen for God and for Spain.

Presents!”

It was the initial motto of the monument that, under a cross, was erected in the Ribalta Park in Castellón.

The Transition managed to change the legend to remember the victims of violence, without specifying.

Currently, there is no written reference, but there are still the monument and the cross for which the Castellón City Council has approved their removal, in compliance with the 2017 historical memory law, since they are considered vestiges of Francoism.

In fact, for years, they have been a meeting place for those who continue to celebrate 20N.

During the last four years, the progressive local government has faced continuous litigation and opposition from the PP, which this Wednesday has accompanied Vox and the leaders of the Christian Lawyers collective in a protest in front of the monument for the start of the transfer works of the symbol.

Because, given the allegations presented to the withdrawal project, the consistory decided to offer the cross to Christian denominations, "in attention to its dignity as a representative religious symbol of believers", instead of abandoning it in a warehouse.

This is how the Bishopric of the diocese of Segorbe-Castellón was able to claim the Latin cross, which will be exhibited in the esplanade of a parish in the capital of La Plana.

The transfer will be borne by the city council itself and Christian Lawyers has even resorted to that transfer to the bishopric.

The beginning of the work has brought together, in addition to many politicians, supporters and opponents of the transfer of this Francoist vestige.

To the cries of "Spain, united, will never be defeated", those of "Spain, tomorrow, will be republican" answered, which have been chanted under the surveillance of about twenty National and local Police officers.

The fact that the company awarded the work to move the cross has postponed the start of the wood coating to avoid damage has made it possible for the concentrations to be diluted, without altercations, shortly after an hour.

For the spokesperson and president of the local PP, Begoña Carrasco, the removal of the cross divides the people of Castellón.

"We advocate harmony and freedom," said Carrasco who, in line with Vox, believes that the resignification that the city council itself approved in 1979 to remember all the victims of violence is enough to forget that it is a Franco vestige.

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CASTELLÓN, 08/03/2022.- Work to remove the cross from Ribalta Park in Castelló began today in the face of protests from Christian Lawyers, Vox and the PP and with the presence of Compromís officials and councilors from the municipal government team who have defended the intervention in compliance with the Democratic Memory Law and to eliminate a Francoist symbol that "still provokes confrontation".

In the image a group of supporters of the maintenance of the cross.

EFE/Doménech CastellóDoménech Castelló (EFE)

The Councilor for Culture and Democratic Memory, Verónica Ruiz (Compromís), has spoken of a historic day because "79 years after its construction, it is time to remove the cross."

“It is going to be eliminated because it is a symbol and a democratic anomaly”, she has defended.

The celebration, which was attended by the former Minister of Education Vicent Marzà, was also joined by Compromís deputy Joan Baldoví, who stressed that the law is there to be complied with.

“Everything arrives and the transfer decision seems very reasonable to me.”

The Councilor for Works and Urban Projects, José Luis López (PSPV) has also celebrated the start of the works and has highlighted the coincidence of the extreme right of Vox and the extreme right of the PP, claiming against the Francoist vestiges.

Also,

Forecasts suggest that the transfer, endowed with just over 60,000 euros, will last six weeks.

After the removal of the cross, urban furniture will be installed and the plantation of some species will be recovered.