Congress removes portraits of three Franco-era parliamentary presidents

The president of the Spanish Congress, Francina Armengol, confirmed that three portraits of former presidents of the Francoist Cortes have been taken down from the lower chamber's gallery. She framed the decision as a tribute to the victims of the dictatorship and a step toward historical justice, linking it to the Democratic Memory Law. The removal follows a board agreement initiated by a proposal from Sumar deputy Esther Gil de Reboleño, which was supported by the PSOE and met with a PP abstention.

The portraits eliminated depicted Esteban Bilbao Eguía, Antonio Iturmendi Bañales, and Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel y Nebreda; the image of Torcuato Fernández-Miranda, who served during the transition, was not included in the removal. The action responds to long-standing demands from memory-rights groups such as the Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica, which have argued that displaying these figures in a parliamentary setting honors Francoist leaders. Earlier attempts by other parties to remove the portraits had been rejected.