There is already a winning project to redefine the Quiljamuros Valley. Opened by Franco in 1959 to commemorate his victory in the Civil War, Franco’s Mausoleum is close to being transformed. The jury of an ideas competition held by the Ministry of Housing to choose how to do this has chosen the final proposal from among ten finalists: it will be called “Pedestal and Cross”, a project that “proposes a new vision for the mega-complex”.
This was highlighted by Iñaki Carnicero, Secretary General of the Urban Agenda, Housing and Architecture of the Ministry of Housing and Chairman of the Jury, who announced the winning idea after “intense discussion” due to the “high quality” of the projects. The chosen plan would demolish the staircase that currently gives access to the church to build a kind of large corridor accessible from the front and from the sides, and in the middle incorporating a large perimeter open to the sky. From there, you can reach the cathedral or the interpretation center that will be built from scratch and will explain who, how and why Cuelgamuros was built and what it means for the dictatorship.
Carnicero described this new access as a “threshold” understood as a “place of encounter and dialogue” that “cuts the vertical axis” built in the dictatorship “to make it horizontal.” According to a representative of the Ministry of Housing, the idea “redefines borders and gives priority to nature more than architecture.” However, reports of the project are not yet public nor is who behind it, as the contest was anonymous, but they will be available soon, as noted.
“Minimal” intervention in the basilica
The competition began last April with the opening of the deadline for submitting plans to transform the Quilgamoros Valley into a place of memory, where more than 33,000 victims of civil war and dictatorship are buried and there is no poster or plaque explaining anything about it. The selection was made after the jury last August selected the ten final ideas from a total of 34 proposals.
In doing so, the government’s aim is to promote a “new look” at the monument and its surroundings, a space “hitherto frozen in time” and marked by icons showing the national Catholicism that supported the dictatorship. To this end, the competition proposed a resignation in three aspects: the natural and artistic transformation, the construction of an interpretive center, and the process of antiquity that could be implemented within the basilica.
In this sense, the chosen project proposes a “minimal” intervention within the temple, according to Carnicero. The government agreed directly with the Catholic Church on the details of the operation and, in fact, agreed to the possibility of converting the church except for the main altar and adjacent pews. However, the place will continue to be dedicated to Catholic worship and the Benedictine monks will remain there with the exception of Prior Santiago Cantera, known for his pro-Franco stances.
From this moment, as stated in the bid brochure, the service contract will be signed with the offer and two phases will begin: eight months to formulate the project and another 40 months to carry out the works themselves. Tendering for the works is expected to begin in the second half of 2026. In total, specifications in April estimated the contract duration at “about” 56 months (four years and eight months), including the competition duration. However, the same document admits that it is difficult to “precisely determine” the total duration.
“Complexity of the task”
Extremist Catholic sectors and the far right have declared battle against the resignation process of Quilgamoros, who has spent weeks raising the specter of the government wanting to demolish the 150-metre-high cross – something that will not happen. The Ultras have tried to boycott the process on several occasions, arguing that the shrine is actually a space for “reconciliation” even though Franco ordered its construction to honor “the heroes and martyrs of the Crusade.” The final attack was to file a series of appeals that were rejected by Christian lawyers and several architects coordinating against the competition.
Several memorial associations have also criticized this process, especially because of the agreement with the church that allows the monks to remain – although they are not the self-evident Santiago Cantera, known for his extremist positions. There are also voices among the families of the victims of the dictatorship who oppose the resignation, because they believe that it is “impossible” for this mission to be completed successfully, given what the regime’s memorial means.
The competition jury understands the difficulty. This is how British architect David Chipperfield, also a member of the jury, summed it up in the press presentation of the winning project: “We must first understand the complexity of the task before us, which goes far beyond architecture,” said the expert, who stated that all members of the jury realize that “there is no complete answer” to the question of how to give a new meaning to such a monument.
In addition to Carnicero and Chipperfield, the jury also included the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez López, and the Minister of Culture, Jordi Martí Grau, as well as several artists and architects of recognized standing, an artistic advisor and another at the suggestion of the Episcopal Conference. The total cost of the operation will reach 31 million euros: 26.2 to cover the work, 4.1 fees for the winning project, and 605,000 euros in prizes for the 10 finalists.
While the resignation is progressing, the work of exhuming the bodies of the victims buried in the crypts continues. The majority of those wanted at the request of their relatives are Republicans who were transferred without the knowledge and consent of their loved ones to Cuelgamuros. So far, 20 bodies have been identified.
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