Tenerife Heritage Ruling Reignites Calls to Remove Franco Monument

The debate over remnants of the dictatorship in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has reignited following a new report from the Canary Islands Government’s heritage committee. The committee has unanimously rejected the classification of the Franco Monument as a "Property of Cultural Interest," a decision that the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Tenerife argues removes the legal justification for keeping the structure in its current location.

In response, the association has launched a petition on Change.org, which has already gathered over 340 signatures, calling for the monument’s permanent removal. Mercedes Pérez Schwartz, the association’s president, labeled the continued presence of the monument a "democratic anomaly," noting that nearly 20 years after the 2007 Historical Memory Law, the city still maintains a structure that violates both regional and national democratic standards.

The association is proposing more than just the removal of the statue. They suggest relocating it to the Canary Islands Military Historical Museum at the Almeida Barracks. This move would strip the monument of its status as a public tribute and instead present it as a historical object for study. Furthermore, the group wants to transform the current site into a memorial for victims of repression, acknowledging that the area is near a site where those persecuted for their beliefs were once discarded.

The issue remains politically charged. Pérez Schwartz has criticized far-right efforts to block the monument's removal, arguing that its presence at a main entrance to the city is an insult to the families of the 182 identified victims on the island. With this latest technical ruling against the monument’s heritage protection, the association is now pressuring the Island Council and the Santa Cruz City Council to finally bring the public space in line with modern democratic values.