Fascist-era cross to be returned to Arrecife square

The controversial cross on a monument in Arrecife’s Plaza de las Palmeras will be returned to its position, the Cabildo announced yesterday.

The cross was erected on orders of the fascist Falange party in 1950 to commemorate soldiers who fell fighting for the nationalist rebels under Franco during the Civil War of 1936-39. It was not part of César Manrique’s design for the square and did not receive the blessing of the San Ginés church for several years.

However, members of the PP party have claimed it is a “universal religious symbol and part of the heritage of Arrecife” and objected to its removal during the current renovation of the square.

María Jesús Tovar, Cabildo Vice- President, explained that, although the cross and the monument may fall under Spain’s Law of Democratic Memory, which calls for removal of monuments that glorify the dictatorship, it was legally required to be catalogued officially before action could be taken. “In this case, no catalogue exists,” she said.

The decision to keep the cross is sure to provoke angry reactions from those who have campaigned to remove fascist-era symbols from the city.