Spain is to begin investigating the consequences of its civil war and the subsequent dictatorship of Francisco Franco, under a law finally passed by the Senate after lengthy controversy.
The Democratic Memory Act regulates investigation into human rights violations during the war, which began in 1936, and the dictatorship, which lasted until 1975, as well as the initial post-Franco era up to 1983. The law was passed in Madrid late on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of victims are believed to lie in unmarked graves
The new law provides for fines of up to €150,000 ($148,000) for glorification of the dictator, among other offences, and goes well beyond previous legislation dating to 2007 that regulates monuments to the dictatorship. For the first time, there is legislation that acknowledges the rights of the victims.
"We socialists have always worked towards strengthening our democracy, and today we are taking another step towards justice, reparations and dignity for all the victims," Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez tweeted.
Spain has as yet to process its traumatic 20th century past. Conservative liberal parties voted consistently against the new law during its passage through both houses of parliament, insisting that it would merely "reopen old wounds." Conservative media have accused the government of revanchism.
Parties on the left have by contrast called for the government to go further and repeal the 1977 amnesty law, which sought to draw a veil over the past and which stands in contradiction to the new law, which will go into effect following gazetting.
The number of victims of the 1936-39 civil war and the ensuing dictatorship is usually put at between 100,000 and 150,000, with some maintaining it is much higher.
Following civil society initiatives starting in the mid-1990s, some 800 mass graves with around 10,000 bodies have been found with the support of certain municipalities and provinces.
