A group of fascists gathered at Spain's only remaining equine statue of General Franco outside Santander Town Hall last night to mark the 32nd anniversary of the death of the fascist dictator. It should be the final time they will be able to do so as the statue must be removed under the terms of the recently-approved Historical Memory Law.

Santander was one of the cities that initially opposed Franco's nationalist forces before it fell on the 26th August 1937. The names of a number of Santander's streets and squares evoking the Franco era will need to be changed when the new legislation comes into force such as: Fidel Davila, Mola, Moscardó and Alonso Vega (generals who took part in the seizure of Santander), Brunete, Belchite and Alcázar de Toledo (Civil War battles won by Franco's forces), as well as Plaza del Alzamiento, División Azul, Héroes del Baleares, Falange Española and Alféreces Provisionales.