Topless activists interrupt Francisco Franco commemoration in Spain

Topless protesters on Sunday interrupted the annual commemoration for Spain’s longtime dictator Francisco Franco, who died 44 years ago.

The half-dozen women, from the feminist group Femen, descended on Plaza de Oriente in Madrid chanting “for fascism no honor and no glory,” with the same slogan written on their chests. They were quickly removed by police.

Hundreds of Franco supporters turned out for the event held around Nov. 20 each year to mark the anniversary of the right-wing dictator’s death.

The feminist protesters pulled a similar stunt last year — with some assaulted by pro-Franco supporters.

Jesus Munoz, the leader of Spain’s fascist Falange party, said the march was against the “desecration” of Franco’s remains, which were exhumed in October, and against the country’s historical-memory law which recognizes those who suffered during Franco’s dictatorship.

“Now they start desecrating tombs, this is not going to be like 1936 (when the Spanish Civil War started) but much worse,” he said.

Franco, who ruled Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975, and his nationalist legacy still divide Spain and it’s political parties.

His remains were transferred from a lavish state mausoleum built by his political prisoners and carved into a mountain in the Valley of the Fallen in Madrid. They were reburied in a cemetery near the city.

The Socialist party has long sought to turn the Valley of the Fallen into a memorial for the 500,000 victims of the civil war. About 34,000 victims are currently buried there, including some whose bodies were transferred there during Franco’s dictatorship without their families’ permission.

During Franco’s regime, tens of thousands of his enemies were killed and imprisoned in a campaign to wipe out dissent.

With Post wires