The Spanish government orders the elimination of the Feixina monolith in Palma

PalmThe Spanish government has ordered the removal of the Feixina monolith, the controversial monument that for more than a decade has politically divided the left and right of the Balearic Islands. Now, the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory has decreed its inclusion in the Catalog of Symbols and Elements Contrary to Democratic Memory, and has resolved that it must be removed "from public space".

In line with this conflict, the Palma City Council, with the favorable votes of the PP and Vox, has also precisely granted it this Thursday, the same day that the state resolution became known, the maximum municipal protection. Therefore, the Cort plenary has approved the incorporation of the monolith into the Catalog of protected buildings and elements of the city. The decision comes after last week the final approval of the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU) was given the green light, which provided for the inclusion of this element within the municipal catalog.

After the inclusion of the monument in the state registry became public, socialist councilor Francesc Dalmau requested the removal of the item from the agenda, arguing that it is a regulation of a higher rank. Nevertheless, the request was rejected by the governing team, which maintained the vote and approved the protection of the monolith.

During her speech, MÉS per Palma councilor Kika Coll spoke out against the decision and denounced that it means protecting "a fascist monument" that pays homage to the cruiser Baleares, linked to the massacre of the Desbandá of Malaga, a position also shared by the leader of Podem in Palma, Lucía Muñoz. During her speech, she stated that every stone of the monument "speaks of a dictatorship that sowed terror". "La Feixina will fall", she concluded.

The PP and Vox have argued that in 2010, with Aina Calvo (PSOE) as mayor, the City Council removed Francoist elements and thus adapted to current regulations. Fulgencio Coll (Vox) has lamented that the opposition continues to live in Civil War antagonism, and Oscar Fidalgo (PP) has recalled the resolution of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) which declared the monument's removal inappropriate. "The courts have already spoken, and when the courts speak, responsible and serious politics listens and complies," he said.

State catalog

However, with the inclusion of the monument in the state catalog, a chapter that seemed to be closing this Thursday is reopened. The report from the Secretariat of State for Democratic Memory, to which this newspaper has had access, establishes that the monument to the victims of the cruiser "Baleares"is a monument built during the Francoist dictatorship" and must be understood as part and example of the cult "to the fallen developed by the Francoist regime"; a cult that constituted one of "the most important and persistent symbolic policies of the dictatorship", which was intended to remember, in an "exclusive manner and without any intention of reconciliation or mention of the dead of the Republican side".The report points out that simultaneously, and despite the fact that in 2010 the Francoist symbols and inscriptions were removed, the form of the monument itself responds to the commemorative style typical of dictatorial constructions aimed at remembering the fallen. In this way, it states that "the aesthetics of the monument are inseparable", as they are from what were "the values of the regime that built it": "hierarchy, monumentality, virility expressed through verticalism, simplicity understood as an expression of gravity, a desire for domination and control of public space, religiosity, etc."."In short, the monument to the victims of the cruiser Baleares constitutes a construction devised and erected to exclusively commemorate the fallen combatants of the rebel side, forming part of the cult to those fallen for God and for Spain within what were the symbolic legitimizing strategies of the dictatorship", it summarizes.The resolution orders its public removal and establishes that its deposit and custody will be carried out in a public facility, determined by the owning or competent administration regarding the asset, without this implying in any case its public exhibition. Furthermore, it warns that failure to comply with the removal will trigger the procedure included in Article 37 of Law 20/2022, of October 19, on democratic memory.New judicial process

Sources from Memòria de Mallorca have indicated that the monolith is the first Francoist symbol included in the state census and that this cataloging also opens up the possibility of initiating a new judicial process to advance its definitive removal. "This action represents a very important step forward after years of claims by our organization, which has repeatedly requested the removal of this monument from the public space it currently occupies," the entity stated.

Armengol celebrates the decision: "It is justice"

The President of the Congress of Deputies and former President of the Balearic Government, Francina Armengol, has highlighted as "an important step" the inclusion of the Feixina monolith in the Catalogue of Symbols and Elements Contrary to Democratic Memory and has considered that "it is only fair" that it has to be removed.

In a message on the social network X, the also general secretary of the PSIB-PSOE has considered that the inclusion of the monolith in this catalog represents "an important step in the defense of democratic memory". "It is just that it has to be removed. It is not about erasing history, but about dignifying it, recognizing the victims and building a public space consistent with democratic values", she pointed out.

"It is a rationalist architectural element"

For its part, ARCA, an entity dedicated to the protection of heritage, has warned that the Feixina monument is a rationalist architectural element created by an illustrious architect from Palma, Francisco Roca Simó and internationally recognized. It also recalled that it was adapted to the memory law during the government of Aina Calvo in Palma by unanimity of the political groups. "The lack of will for consensus and the will to destroy heritage of certain parties is incomprehensible," they have pointed out. According to their arguments, the Feixina is not a fascist monument: "It is a milestone within the City that cries out against wars and dictatorships, that is what the minted iron that surrounds it says".

ARCA has emphasized that it will continue to work in favor of heritage and always in favor of the historical memory law. The problem, for the entity, "is when interpretations are made intransigently and falsifying reality as the Secretary of State does now".