The Government of Aragon has officially rejected sitting down to negotiate with the legal team of the Central Government to prevent it from filing a recourse against the repeal of the regional memory law before the Constitutional Court. The Aragonese authorities trust in the full constitutionality of their decision and refuse to negotiate. The Central Government will file a recourse against the regional government and will do the same with the communities of Castilla y León and Valencia if they persist in approving the so-called “conciliation laws”. The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory has the report of three United Nations rapporteurs who concluded that the conciliation laws of Aragon, Valencia, and Castilla y León “invisibilize” the victims and contribute to encouraging historical denialism or revisionism. The Spanish State’s responsibility towards human rights and preserving the historical memory of serious violations will be the main argument of the recourse before the Constitutional Court.
The Official Bulletin of Aragon published the repeal of the memory law passed in 2018 on February 29. Despite the community authorities denying it now, the text expressly states that certain elements, such as the democratic memory census or the government’s institutional website on the matter, will be abolished. The text also specifies that actions in the educational field related to the history of Aragon and the relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Spanish Constitution will be canceled or replaced. The president of the region, Jorge Azcón, sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations opposing the conclusions of the rapporteurs, containing lies and inaccuracies. The letter claimed that the repealed law “relativized” crimes committed by the Republican side and limited the definition of victims, among other false claims.
The Government will offer the governments of Castilla y León and Valencia, where the PP and Vox have agreed to replace memory laws with new concordance laws, a negotiation process similar to the one rejected by Aragon. If they do not accept this bilateral legal negotiation, the Government will take these laws to the Constitutional Court once they are approved. This mechanism provided by the law regulating the Court of Guarantees has already been used with other PP-governed communities, such as the trans law in Madrid or the animal welfare law. The Government insists on the importance of respecting human rights and historical memory in the face of attempts to revise history and downplay past atrocities.
The central government’s position is based on the need to protect human rights and historical memory from attempts to distort or minimize past atrocities. The UN rapporteurs’ report highlights the importance of all levels of government in Spain fulfilling their obligation to protect human rights. The Government is determined to defend the constitutionality of the measures taken by the regional governments and will resort to legal action if necessary. The conflict between the central government and the regional governments regarding memory laws reflects broader debates and tensions within Spanish society over historical memory and how to address the legacy of past atrocities. The central government’s decision to take legal action against the regional governments is a response to what it sees as a violation of human rights and historical memory principles.
The dispute over memory laws in Aragon, Valencia, and Castilla y León is part of a broader debate in Spanish society about how to deal with historical memory and the legacy of past atrocities. The central government’s decision to challenge these laws reflects its commitment to upholding human rights and historical memory principles. The dispute between the central and regional governments over memory laws underscores the complex and contentious nature of historical memory in Spain. The central government’s recourse to the Constitutional Court is seen as a way to ensure that human rights and historical memory are protected. The central government’s insistence on the constitutionality of its actions reflects a broader commitment to upholding democratic values and principles.
