In 1964, the Barcelona City Council awarded a medal to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to commemorate the so-called "25 years of peace" - that is, 25 years since Franco had won victory in the Spanish civil war and forcibly imposed a lasting authoritarian regime over the entire state.
Now, fifty-four years later, it has decided to withdraw the medal. And not just this one. In total, the city will revoke six medals that the pro-Franco council of the day granted to military figures and dictatorship institutions.
"The objective of this action", explains the city council in a press release, "is to recover the democratic memory of the city". For this reason, it is necessary "to destroy Francoist impunity and restore the memory of the victims of fascism", as well as of "people who suffered repression during the dictatorship in the Spanish state" between 1936 and 1975.
The municipal government estimates that the report on the revocation of the medals will be approved in the council meeting on 25th January, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the fall of Barcelona to Franco's forces, who entered the city on 26th January 1939, after two years and half of war and multiple bombardments.