• Music Ana Torroja will be "very proud" of her grandfather's title: "He did a lot for Spain"

  • Aristocracy The story behind the Francoist titles that Pedro Sánchez wants to withdraw

Ana Torroja, (Madrid, 1959), after the death of her father, José Antonio Torroja Cavanillas, receives the Marquisate of Torroja, an aristocratic distinction that

the dictator Francisco Franco awarded her paternal

grandfather posthumously in 1961.

This is indicated today by the BOE that "in accordance with the provisions of the Royal Decree of May 27, 1912, this Ministry, on behalf of HM the King, has seen fit to order that,

after payment of the corresponding tax,

it is issued, without prejudice to the third party with the best right, Royal Letter of Succession as Marchioness of Torroja, in favor of Doña

Ana Torroja Fungairiño".

A title that has been

criticized by the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory

(ARMH), which considers that "the renewal of the title is an insult to the victims that the Government, with the signature of the Minister of Justice,

Pilar Llop,

has renewed the title of nobility granted by Franco to the architect Eduardo Torroja, who inherits his granddaughter, the singer Ana Torroja".

Renewing a recognition granted by a dictator is "a humiliation for the victims because

the dictator's gaze and assessments are being used as valid

when it comes to recognizing alleged honors that were part of the criteria of the person

responsible for thousands of murders

of civilians and the persecution of numerous groups".

1961-2022

Inheriting a decision of the dictator in a

democracy

and applying it as valid supposes an affront to the victims of the dictatorship, "a lack of rejection of the dictator's decisions and a

contempt

for the recognition they deserve in a democracy, except for those who have done something for it."

"Without going into the qualities of the character, to whom Franco granted the title in 1961, it is that the Government in the year 2022 has executed a decision made by the dictator Francisco Franco."

For the president of the ARMH, Emilio Silva, the grandson of someone who disappeared due to Franco's repression,

"this is an attack on the families of the victims,

a contempt for the memory of

all the architects who were reprisals

in Spain or who had to exercise in exile so as not to be captured by the Franco regime".

"Taking this measure at this time

is like giving Franco the possibility of signing

in the Official State Gazette for the year 2022 and letting him decide who he wants to give recognition to," adds Silva.

The Government

had promised the

annulment

of these noble titles,

but finally it seems that it has wanted to "save" some.

"It is incredible that in the 21st century a Ministry of Justice renews noble titles, which were abolished by the Second Republic and restored by the dictatorship. But it cannot be that

the Government speaks of democratic memory

and at the same time inherits decisions of a dictator", Silva concludes.

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