Overview

• Activists from the Basque party Sortu unfurled two large banners on the external arches of the basilica at the Valle de Cuelgamuros near San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
• The banners read “Ni pudisteis, ni podéis, ni podréis” and “Gora Euskal Herria Askatuta” and included an image evoking executions with the dates 1936–1975 alongside Basque symbols.
• Sortu described the monument as a symbol of Francoism and said the action demanded recognition of the Basque nation’s character and the right to self-determination.
• The protest forms part of Sortu’s Askatzera Lotuak campaign and precedes a 27 September event in Pamplona marking the 50th anniversary of the 1975 executions of ETA members Txiki and Otaegi and three FRAP militants.
• Valle de Cuelgamuros was built under Francisco Franco, inaugurated in 1959, and housed his remains until their government-ordered exhumation in 2019.