A Francoist association, in collaboration with the City Council of Aranjuez, governed by the PP and Vox coalition, organized a tribute to a local military figure on the centenary of his death. The event took place on October 10th and included the unveiling of a plaque in honor of Captain Félix Angosto Gómez Castrillón, who died in Spanish Morocco in 1924, and a conference about his life. The conference, titled “The Story of a Hero from Aranjuez,” was conducted by José Luis Lindo Martínez, the official chronicler of Aranjuez, and was held at the Isabel de Farnesio cultural center. A plaque dedicated to Gómez Castrillón was also installed in the center, which had previously been displayed in the late military officer’s former home. The City Council, led by Mayor Miguel Gómez Herrero, published a press release with photos from the tribute, which was also shared on the Caídos de Aranjuez Facebook page.
The association, formally known as the Brotherhood of Families of the Fallen of Aranjuez, was registered with the Community of Madrid association registry on November 21, 2023, and three months later in the Aranjuez association registry. One of their pilgrimage sites is a monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers in the municipal cemetery, which is identified as a Francoist relic in the catalog of vestiges related to the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship’s repression. The association’s insignia features symbols such as the coat of arms of Francoist Spain, the Eagle of Saint John, and the Yoke and Arrows. The same monument is honored by the association.
The chief of staff of the City Council, Pedro Parra, clarified that the plaque unveiling ceremony was solely organized by the council, and the subsequent conference was facilitated by lending space to the association. However, the City Council’s post-event press release combined both events and explicitly mentioned the conference as part of the tribute to the fallen military officer. Parra emphasized that the association is legally established and their statutes do not advocate or reference Francoist ideals. He also stated that the 1924 tribute does not relate to Francoism. Caídos de Aranjuez frequently promotes the principles of the Association for Reconciliation and Historical Truth, which challenges the Memorials of Historical Memory law and views it as biased, advocating for an alternative truth.
Notably, two days before the City Council of Aranjuez’s joint event with the Francoist association, the Congress of Deputies approved a reform to the association law to include the apology of Francoism as grounds for dissolving associations, in compliance with the 2022 Democratic Memory Law. This reform aims to dissolve the Francisco Franco Foundation on these grounds. Caídos de Aranjuez was established after the 2022 law came into effect. The mayor who presided over the tribute event alongside the association was elected in a June 21st session with the support of the PP and Vox, following the resignation of his predecessor, Maria José Martínez de la Fuente. Despite Vox’s break from the PP in July in autonomous communities, their coalition persists in several municipalities in Madrid.
The actions of the Francoist association Caídos de Aranjuez, in partnership with the local government, have drawn scrutiny for their nostalgic portrayal of the Franco era and the controversy surrounding public glorification of figures associated with the dictatorship. The event’s commemoration of a military figure linked to Franco’s regime raises questions about the appropriate recognition of historical figures and the role of local governments in addressing sensitive historical narratives. The intersection of politics and historical memory continues to influence public debates and confrontations over Spain’s past and the implications for contemporary society.
