35 crosses have been removed by leftist officials across Spain, with many being destroyed, and more than 100 others could be headed for the same fate under the guise of an initiative to rid the country of symbols of the Francisco Franco dictatorship.
Another 12 crosses have also already been victim to ‘anonymous vandalism,’ resulting in their destruction.
Spanish paper La Gaceta described the push as a “crusade against the cross,” adding that despite criticism surrounding their origin,
Most of these crosses … have coexisted peacefully with the residents for over 80 years, who in many cases are unaware of their origin or initial motivation, having become neighborhood gathering places and even landmarks in the localities where they are located.
Catholic groups report that thousands have gathered in defiance of Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist agenda in recent weeks at the Basilica of the Valley of the Fallen, which is home to the world’s tallest (492-foot) cross. They also insisted that “RECONSTRUIREMOS TODO LO QUE DERRIBEN,” or:
We will rebuild everything they demolish.
The Spanish bishops’ conference also announced this week that this cross will stay standing—for now, at least—despite the government’s plan for “the deconsecration of the basilica and the departure of the Benedictines.”
This destruction has, in fact, been taking place for years, and has also seen dozens of statues, monuments and street names removed due to their links to Francoism. Vox’s Jorge Buxadé, recently interviewed by europeanconservative.com, described the destruction of crosses as “a true iconoclastic barbarism, which is hatred of history, culture, identity.”
Polonia Castellanos, who as president of the Spanish Federation of Christian Lawyers has intervened in dozens of cases, also stressed that regardless of justifications surrounding the background of these crosses, “there is an underlying Christianophobia” in their removals.
