"History and democratic memory are there; no repeal of a law will erase them."

Palm"We have been working on democratic memory for 25 years, and it will continue to exist to honor and provide reparations to the victims, with or without a law," said Margalida Capellà, professor of international law at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), on Wednesday during the conference "Democratic Memory and Discrimination: The Balearic Islands and Spain in Transparency." The imminent repeal of the law passed in 2017, which promotes the recovery of witnesses, the search for and recognition of family members and victims, was a central theme of the event, which also included the participation of artist Mar Grimalt and was moderated by Cristina, director of the ARA Baleares Weekly.

The event was capped off with an impressive adaptation by Mar Grimalt of a poem by Damià Huguet. This cultural creator explained that "many young people of my generation, who are not yet 30, saw the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime glossed over in high school, an educational gap that clearly hinders our understanding of their importance." One of the points of discussion was precisely the growing wave of young people who repeat far-right slogans such as "life was better under Franco" or make clearly racist statements. In this regard, Grimalt said that "we have to try to understand that we are a generation full of uncertainties. Our parents raised us saying that if you got a good education you would have a job and guaranteed stability, and we have discovered that nothing is certain or stable these days. Given this, the far-right's messages are their own." Not so much because we agree with them or not, but because they are presented with such forcefulness and clarity. "We are looking for certainty," she reiterated.

For Grimalt, "history is there, and no repeal of a law or regulation will end it or erase it."

For her part, Margalida Capellà wanted to send a message of optimism regarding the political and social situation concerning democratic memory: "I think we can be sure that we are on the right side of history. And we have been working for many years, with and without regulations. And therefore, the task continues, and it involves each of us doing our part, each from our own sphere. We have already done it and achieved a law," she stated.

In her opinion, the reasons why the PP and Vox parties want to eliminate the Democratic Memory Law (which is already being repealed in the Balearic Parliament) are "because there is a law, a regulation with that high legal standing, that condemns Francoism. And they cannot tolerate that." Capellà emphasized the rigor of the law and stated that "we must not forget that, fortunately, there is a national law, which will take action and cover those aspects not addressed by the regional law once it is repealed. Furthermore, there is the Law on Mass Graves, which will not disappear," she asserted. Both speakers agreed on the need to "stand united with democrats" and continue demanding recognition of events that "are sufficiently documented by historians and that must never be repeated." The round table discussion on Wednesday drew a large audience to the Library of the Estudi General Lul·lià. The event also had the support of the Ministry of Development Planning.