Reuters
Statue of the former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco
The last statue of the former Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, was removed from the gates of Melilla, the Spanish enclave and the autonomous city, located on the northwest coast of Africa.
Without much fanfare, Tuesday evening workers used heavy equipment to demolish the platform the statue was on, then lifted it with a chain around its neck and loaded it onto a pickup truck.
“This is a historic day for Melilla,” said Elena Fernandez Trevino, responsible for education and culture in the enclave of Melilla, on Monday, after the local council voted to remove the statue.
The statue was erected three years after Franco’s death in 1978, and commemorates his role as commander of the Spanish Legion in the Rif War, a struggle that Spain and France fought in the 1920s against Berber tribes in the mountainous Rif region of Morocco.
Source: Reuters
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