MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Socialist government has set June 10 as the date for relocating the remains of former dictator Gen. Francisco Franco from a self-aggrandizing mausoleum to a more discreet grave in a public cemetery in Madrid.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is trying to remain in power in the country’s April 28 election, had promised to exhume Franco’s embalmed body from the Valley of the Fallen by the end of 2018.
However, his call has been hampered by opposition from Franco’s relatives and the abbot of the basilica where the dictator was buried in 1975.
The country’s Supreme Court is to deliver a preliminary decision in the coming days.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said Friday that the government would comply with whatever the judges decide.