Misplaced faith? Implementing Spain’s 2007 Reparation Law 1

The Reparation Law, popularly known as the Law of Historical Memory, represented at the time of its approval a flawed but real step forward in the struggle to gain reparation and public recognition for the victims of the Spanish Civil War and Francoist dictatorship. This chapter focuses on how some limitations within the law – the definition of memory as a private matter and the refusal to nullify Francoist-era rulings – explain its lack of implementation, underpinned by the State's view of its role in transitional justice as discretionary. The Reparation Law was a long time in the making and its final passage through the Spanish Congress was a turbulent one. Nevertheless, once approved on 26 December 2007 the law represented a qualitative leap forward in Spain's reluctant reckoning with the past. The Reparation Law continues 'to treat exhumations as a private, individual right' despite making available limited state funds to help historical memory organizations carry out their activities.