Spain:A controversial law aimed at recognising victims of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship was passed yesterday with a last-minute change to allow Spain's Catholic Church to keep Francoist symbols.
The amendment means the Church will not have to remove symbols, such as those on memorials, that date from the repressive dictatorship which gripped Spain until the 1970s - as long as there are "artistic-religious" reasons which justify them.
The law was passed by Congress just days after the Vatican beatified almost 500 Catholics who were mostly killed during the 1936-1939 Civil War, a decision that caused much anger and debate on both sides about the Spanish Church's role.
Historians say the Church supported Franco until the 1960s.
Many churches in Spain contain memorials to people who died during the war and these often carry the symbols of Franco's Spain - such as the national badge with an eagle, which was changed with the onset of democracy, and the arrows and yoke, symbol of the fascist Falange party.
The ruling Socialist party reached agreement to allow churches to keep the symbols with the right-wing Catalan party CiU. They were joined at the last minute by Basque nationalists and a regional party representing the Canary Islands.
The entire law was opposed by the conservative opposition Popular Party and a Catalan republican party. The conservatives say the law reopens old wounds and looks to judge the rights and wrongs of the conflict, which left hundreds of thousands dead and deep rifts in Spanish society that have still not completely healed.
Left-wing Catalans said the law did not go far enough because it did not annul the conviction of left-wing prisoners by the Franco regime.