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The Spanish government has delayed the removal of the remains of dictator Franco from the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen), near Madrid. A month ago, the executive of Pedro Sánchez's government announced that the withdrawal of the Spanish dictator's remains from the highly controversial civil war memorial was "imminent" and indicated that the exhumation would be carried out during the month of July. However, although this action was announced with great fanfare by the new PSOE government just after it came to power, it could now be delayed until the end of the year.

According to digital daily Confidencial Digital, the Spanish government has postponed the measure for legal reasons. Sources in the state's legal service have confirmed that Sánchez's executive has commissioned a report from the service, aimed at providing sufficient legal arguments for the exhumation of the dictator's remains so that future problems could be avoided. Thus, Sánchez has decided not to take any risks and to wait until he has more legal backing.

"This democracy has already taken long enough to remove a dictator from the position of honour, having these tasks left undone does not dignify democracy. We will do it as soon as possible. It's already taking too long," said vice president Carmen Calvo more than a month ago. However, it seems that in the end the preparation of this report could take months and, therefore, the removal of the fascist dictator's remains would be put off until the end of the year.