The regional government's secretariat for democratic memory has fined a resident of Sa Pobla 2,001 euros for having hung two Francoist flags in the street.
The flags appeared along the Calle Marina on a Saturday afternoon at the end of April. They were considered to represent a serious infringement of the Balearic Law of Democratic Memory and Recognition, which prohibits any display that implies recognition of Francoism or exaltation of the 1936 military uprising. The fines for this range from 2,000 to 10,000 euros.
One of the flags was a Spanish flag with the eagle of San Juan (Saint John); the other was the Falange flag. The flags attracted a great deal of social media attention, and Sa Pobla police reported the resident for suspected violation of the law. The flags were taken down, but the matter was taken up by the secretariat.
The law states that owners will be responsible for removing or eliminating any symbols "contrary to democratic memory which are placed on private buildings and projected into a public space". As well as flags, these symbols include shields, insignia and plaques or references to Francoism.
The resident has the right to appeal against the secretariat's ruling.
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So much for freedom of speech. Only communists are allowed to express themselves. This is a disgrace.The Baleares are now aligned with Stalinism and against Western values.