"Due to the crisis situation in which our country finds itself, there are more important things to worry about than the Historical Memory Law." This is how the email that a neighbor has sent to La Voz begins after learning that a commission of experts from Arrecife has proposed removing the honorary Mayoralty from the dictator Francisco Franco and changing the name of 13 streets.
This reader believes that "it is not the time" to change the names of the streets, since it is something "that can wait". "I think it is ignorant that we want to forget something that happened and that will always be reflected in the history of Spain. Franco existed and his dictatorship too. And no matter how much they try to change the names of the streets, they are not going to erase history. History is what it is, whether we like it or not," he says.
In addition, he states that everyone lived "sad and bad moments" and, not for that reason, they are going to "forget them." "Even if we want to erase them, they will always be there, and the same happens with Spanish history. It is true that Franco's dictatorship is a dark episode in the history of our country, but we should not erase it for that reason", he argues.
"The Germans have not erased their history"
In this sense, he assures that the Germans "have not erased anything from their history." "And they have lived very dark moments. The remains of what was the dark Nazi government of Adolf Hitler are still there, so that all humanity can see how far the ambition and madness of a man went. Therefore, erasing history is not the solution," he says.
This reader is especially addressed to the rulers of Lanzarote to convey that putting new names to these streets of Arrecife "will not change the history of Spain or Lanzarote." "However, what you do for and for this country, for and for the citizens, will change the future, and will be reflected in history. I invite you to stop spending public money on commissions of experts (who knows what experts they are) and invest it in projects to reduce unemployment, promote education and health or help families in need," he proposes.
