Die Konsequenzen jahrzehntelanger Amnes(t)iepolitik in Spanien. Das Fallbeispiel der Kleinstadt Llanes (Asturien)

In: Die Friedens-Warte: Journal of International Peace and Organization, Band 86, Heft 1-2, S. 45-71

Abstract

The Spanish policy of covering the events of the civil war and the Franco dictatorship beneath a veil of silence was abruptly shattered a good twenty years later when mass graves all over the country were exhumed by civil society organisations. Despite the remembrance boom that this unleashed and despite the so-called 'Law of Historical Memory' passed in 2007, the impact on rural areas seems to be marginal. Close examination of the microcosm of a small Spanish town shows that communities of remembrance still exist along the political cleavages prevailing in the 1930s and that these influence political behaviour. The article outlines the implementation of the 'Law of Historical Memory' and illustrates the negative consequences of the amnesty / amnesia policy, namely, of having hindered the formation of a democratic political culture during the phase of consolidation. Adapted from the source document.