Today the cross in Ribalta Park, whose removal was ordered by the Government of the Castellón de la Plana City Council, in the Valencian Community (Spain), obtained an important judicial victory.
The Contentious-Administrative Court No. 2 of Castellón ruled this June 7 in favor of the Christian Lawyers Foundation and against the Castellón City Council, which removed the cross, placed on the site since the 1940s, considering it a Francoist symbol.
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🥳NEW VICTORY🥳Justice declares the removal of the Ribalta Cross from Castellón irregular for not being contrary to the Democratic Memory Law. We will ask for its replacement and we will continue fighting for every cross that the radical left demolishes in Spain. pic.twitter.com/4VPbsTNyZV
— Christian Lawyersﻦ (@AbogadosCrist) June 7, 2024
In this regard, the court establishes today that at the time of the placement of the cross in the 1940s it certainly had a political meaning”, but specifies that “it is also true that a resignification of the Cross is carried out, which currently contains a neutral inscription ‘The victims of Violence’”.
Currently, the court ruling adds, the cross is “clearly a religious element.”
“We are faced with a cross that has given off no political connotation or symbology since 1979, since it is not a monument to the fallen but a cross in commemoration of the victims of violence on both sides,” he says.
Poland Castellanos, president of Christian Lawyers, assured that “we will request the execution of the sentence and we will ask for the replacement of the cross”, which was moved by the city council, in January 2023, to the esplanade in front of the church of Santo Tomás de Villanueva , from the Rafalafena neighborhood.
Castellanos, in a statement released by Christian Lawyershighlighted that “after five years fighting for the cross in Ribalta Park in Castellón we have finally managed to get what we all knew recognized by justice.”
“And the cross is simply a cross and the hatred of the most radical left is not authorized to remove our religious symbols,” he noted.
The president of Christian Lawyers expressed: “we hope that this cross will be replaced soon and we trust that the rest of the crosses that we are suing in all the courts of Spain will finally be replaced and that hatred will not continue removing our religious symbols, that they will be respected. the beliefs of Christians and that we are all allowed to live in peace.”
David Ramos
Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Universidad Privada del Norte in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working at ACI Prensa, I have been based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered Pope Francis’ trips to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.