The Diplomat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will spend more than 100,000 euros to remove Francoist symbols from the modern building attached to the Palace of Santa Cruz, its historic headquarters, inaugurated in 1950.
The department headed by José Manuel Albares has awarded the contract for the works to the company Servicios Generales Constructivos 2020 SL for a total amount of 106,375.25 euros, including taxes, after considering this to be “the most advantageous technical and economic offer”, according to the award announcement, to which Europa Press had access.
“The purpose of this works contract is to remove Francoist symbols from the façade of the Muguruza building (Edificio moderno) of the Palacio de Santa Cruz, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in Madrid,” reads the contract, which specifies that it will last six weeks.
The aim of the work to be carried out is to remove the Francoist coats of arms on the two towers of the façade of the building in Calle Concepción Jerónima, as well as the one in Calle Santo Tomás and the one in Calle El Salvador.
According to the specifications, the contracted company must handle “the coats of arms to be removed as a cultural asset, reducing the volume of rubble produced by the work as much as possible”.
Thus, it is stipulated that “the removal of the coats of arms must be carried out in one piece”. Each of these shields are “stone blocks of an estimated weight of one tonne”, so the volume of rubble generated by each of them is estimated at 2.69 cubic metres.
“By removing one piece, the cuts, and consequently the volume of rubble, is reduced by 35%, which in turn implies a reduction in the environmental impact,” justifies Exteriores in the specifications.
Once the Francoist coats of arms have been removed, they will be replaced by the constitutional coat of arms. Foreign Affairs thus complies with the provisions of the 2007 Law of Historical Memory, which provides for the removal of Francoist symbols from buildings, streets and public places throughout Spain.
