Spanish Socialists Aim To Bury the Valley of the Fallen

Another case of the Left-wing anti-Christian, anti-Western agenda. The Valley contains the  Abbey of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen, where Priests say perpetual Masses for the souls of those buried in the Valley.

From The European Conservative

By Javier Villamor

PM Sánchez wants to turn the sacred resting place of 33,000 Civil War dead into a secular museum touting his ‘official version’ of history.

Recent events suggest that the Socialist Party (PSOE) wants to reshape the meaning of Valle de Cuelgamuros (the Valley of the Fallen)—a basilica with the tallest cross in the world. This controversy began when the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez presented a preliminary draft of the Democratic Memory Law in 2020, but may now be coming to a head.

This follows years of work on laws to determine an official version of Spain’s 20th century history, especially since the Civil War, ranging from the elimination of any statue, street, or other symbolic reminder of Francoism to the removal of crosses, considered ‘fascist’ by the Left, from public roads. 

Built using Republican POW (prisoner of war) labor between 1940 and 1959 on General Francisco Franco’s initiative following the Spanish Civil War, it was initially conceived as a monument dedicated to national reconciliation and in memory of all victims of the conflict. Since its inauguration on April 1st, 1959, the complex has symbolized an attempt to heal historical wounds beneath the 150-meter crucifix. The remains of approximately 33,000 victims from both sides of the Spanish Civil War rest there. Inside, a Benedictine abbey has maintained worship and religious care for over 60 years, holding liturgies and preserving the spirituality of the site.

Integrating profoundly religious architectural elements designed by architects Pedro Muguruza and Diego Méndez, the monument is now at the center of an intense political and cultural dispute in Spain. 

The Democratic Memory Law includes practical measures such as renaming public spaces linked to the Francoist regime, removing symbols considered sympathetic to the dictatorship, and reviewing the use of the Valley of the Fallen to transform it into an exclusively secular space. This would remove its religious function and expel the Benedictine community currently administering it. According to Félix Bolaños, Minister of the Presidency, the government also seeks to “desacralize” the temple, removing Catholic worship and converting the site into a museum solely dedicated to “historical memory”—a euphemism for imposing the official version of history.

Valley of the Fallen Basilica

Photo: xiquinhosilva, CC by 2.0, on Flickr.

For Spanish Christians and prominent religious figures such as Cardinal Antonio Cañizares and Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla, the Valley of the Fallen represents a national sanctuary for reconciliation and prayer. Both prelates have publicly emphasized the importance of preserving its religious identity, stressing that it is a place of prayer, worship, and memory for all Spaniards, regardless of political controversies.

The Benedictine monks, who signed a legal contract with the state in 1958, have taken legal action against the government’s intention, claiming it violates religious freedom and existing agreements between Spain and the Holy See, signed in 1979. This now forms one of the significant legal obstacles to the PSOE’s plans.

The PSOE’s proposal has divided Spain’s main opposition groups. While the Socialists insist that the measure aims to definitively close the wounds of Francoism by converting the Valley into a secular space—justified as historical reparation and defense of democratic values—the centre-right Popular Party (PP) adopts a more cautious and moderate stance. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo advocates a solution that maintains religious worship and respects the Valley’s original reconciliation purpose while showing openness to historical contextualization.

The national conservative VOX, led by Santiago Abascal, has been the only political party to firmly and unequivocally defend the current integrity of the Valley of the Fallen. Abascal has repeatedly stated publicly and in parliament that

the Valley of the Fallen is a symbol of reconciliation and Christian faith that must be preserved in its entirety against the PSOE’s sectarian attempts to impose an exclusionary historical vision.

VOX has found active support from associations such as Hazte Oír, Abogados Cristianos (Christian Lawyers), and other civil organizations that wish to defend the monument’s religious and traditional character. The situation has become internationalized to the point that the Romanian parliament’s Culture Committee officially requested in writing that the Spanish ambassador “do everything possible” to protect the cross against a “cultural revolution to erase Europe’s Christian memory.”

Jurists have emphasized that any action on the Valley must respect the existing legal framework, including church-state agreements and the Spanish Constitution’s guarantees of religious freedom.