At the end of October, Spanish A Level students had the opportunity to attend one of the public lectures offered by Newcastle University as part of their INSIGHTS programme. Francisco Ferrándiz, from the Spanish National Research Council, discussed 'Undoing the Valley of Cuelgamuros in contemporary Spain'. The Valley of Cuelgamuros (formerly known as Valley of the Fallen or Valle de los Caídos) is Spain's most conspicuous and unresolved Francoist monument. The site incorporates the exhumations of Francisco Franco and José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Fascist party Falange, and it is central to ongoing debates about the Spanish Civil War and historical memory in the 21st century.
Not only did our students learn about a key period of Spanish history, which is part of the Year 13 A Level curriculum, but they also had the opportunity to reflect on the importance of remembering our history.