The People's Party and Coalición Canaria have once again shown their disagreements over the recovery of the Francoist cross, known as the cross of the fallen, from Plaza de Las Palmas, next to the Church of San Ginés. While the Heritage Department, held by Coalición Canaria, requested a report from an expert on the Democratic Memory Law regarding its removal, the People's Party of Lanzarote launched a public campaign to achieve its reinstallation.
This situation has opened a new chapter this Monday morning, when the mayor of Arrecife and deputy secretary of Organization of the PP in Lanzarote, Yonathan de León (PP), and the Minister of Public Works of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Jacobo Medina (PP), were photographed next to the cross of the fallen, which was being placed again in Plaza de Las Palmas. The works on this square are already in their final phase and will be received in the coming weeks.
The spokesperson for the Canary Islands Coalition Group in the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Samuel Martín, told La Voz that the first institution will carry out the work "as it has been approved by the Arrecife City Council" and then "it will be handed over." At the same time, he indicated that with the works, the Heritage report on the Francoist cross will also be sent. Martín has argued that it should be the Arrecife City Council "who enforces the Historical Memory Law" and rejects that the Cabildo should be the one to remove the Francoist vestiges.
In this regard, Martín has assured that the Francoist cross was removed "for security reasons" and that the aforementioned legal report later highlighted that the cross and the surrounding architectural complex should be removed.
The report requested by Historical Heritage from expert José Manuel Corbacho Palacios, which *La Voz* has been able to access, was prepared on August 18 and highlighted that the cross of the fallen, its additional elements, and the Francoist plaques should be removed for contradicting the Democratic Memory Law 20/2022.
In this regard, he stressed that the Arrecife City Council must remove the vestiges, deposit them in public facilities without exhibition, and communicate this to the Department of Democratic Memory.