Still Discovering Spain...

This underground church is crowned with a 500-foot cross and seen by many as a symbol of fascism to this very day.

A tragic number of soldiers perished on both sides during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. As both a burial monument and as a memorial church, the breathtaking Valley of the Fallen (Valle de Los Caídos) was the creation of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and despite its intended purpose, many still see it as a representation of his abuse of power.

The monumental complex is built on and into the slopes of a mountain range and comprises various sections. A courtyard is spread out at the base of the mountain in a wide arc boasting majestic porticoes, while the church is actually built into the hillside. This is also the resting place for Franco himself, though not for long. The 500-foot (152-meter) cross that extends from the tip of the mountaintop is simply titanic with huge figures at its base, it can be seen from miles around. 

On Franco’s orders, the construction of the Valley of the Fallen began in 1940 and continued for 18 years, finally finishing in 1959. The bodies of over 40,000 people who died during the civil war were laid to rest here and Franco hailed his creation as a “work of healing”. Not everyone felt the same, many accusing the leader of forcing political prisoners to labour on the construction, which itself was also seen as a colossally unnecessary and expensive showpiece. Despite the possibly troublesome origins of the Valley of the Fallen, it still manages to retain a monumental sense of awe even if it is a fascist masterpiece.

Last week the government approved a Bill of Law, or Royal Decree, allowing the remains of Franco to be exhumed from the Valley and be moved to another burial place.

A long-running campaign had been calling for Franco to be moved from this enclave which is dedicated to martyrs, heroes, and victims of war and oppression, since he is not considered to be a 'hero' and deserving of the honour of a burial place in such a place.

The law reform makes the exhumation 'urgent' and must be validated in Parliament within a month.
Left-wing parties across Spain voted in favour of the law reform, whilst centre-right Ciudadanos abstained and the right-wing PP voted against, as well as announcing possible legal action against the decision to move Franco on.
Unless Franco's relatives – his grandchildren, following the recent death of his daughter Carmen – specify a burial site which the government approves, then the State will decide where he should be interred.

This will be 'somewhere dignified', as befitting a treasured relative, but not somewhere he would be 'honoured', given the mass torture, death and deprivation of human rights Spain suffered during the 36 years of his dictatorship, from the end of the Civil War in 1939 to the year before his death, which was in 1976.
 

The number of pigs in Spain now outnumbers the entire Spanish population, new figures show, while the government still pledges to crack down on the growing environmental threat from the meat industry, the Spanish desire for pork seems to be insatiable.

According to a 2017 government report, the number of pigs killed in Spain topped 50 million for the first time, with the Spanish population currently numbering 46.5 million.

However, it is obviously not all domestic consumption, a boom in pork exports, particularly to meet China’s growing appetite for pig products, has led to a massive increase in factory-farmed pigs in Spain, with around 30 million animals being fattened up at any time of the year in a sector now worth in excess of £5.4 billion in 2017.

Total production has grown by 20 per cent in the past five years to reach a colossal 4.3 million tons, of which only around a quarter is consumed within the Spanish borders. 

The traditional use for pig meat, namely for Iberian ham with black pigs that roam freely and live on acorns, now comprises only a minute proportion of the Spanish pork industry.

Unbelievably, the average personal consumption of pork is 21 kilos per year in Spain.

This drastic growth in Spanish livestock farming means it is now the fourth-largest producer of carbon emissions, accounting for 10 per cent of the national total, exceeded only by transport, electricity generation and industry. 

Spain’s environment ministry announced in July that it was planning new controls on pig farming to improve “hygiene, animal health and welfare and the environment”, noting that livestock farming is responsible for two thirds of total emissions from the agricultural sector. Environmentalists warn of serious damage if factory farming is allowed to grow even further.

Spain has moved to an industrial and intensive model of farming with consequences for water resources. One pig will consume 15 litres of water a day, meaning the industry uses more water than the cities of Seville, Alicante and Zaragoza, combined. 

Nitrates from animal waste are also beginning to contaminate ground water, environmentalists say. More than 84 million cubic metres of liquid manure runs out of pig factory farms each year, accumulating in pits around the country. 

Under the previous government, 33 plants that had been generating electricity from the gas in pig biomass were closed after renewable energy subsidies were slashed. 

So is there a solution to this ever growing problem? Going vegetarian or taxing meat products to reduce consumption? Whatever it may be if we continue as we are right now, shortly we will have a very serious problem…