"The exhumation will take place on the morning of June 10 and [Franco's] remains will be reburied in the Mingorrubio El Pardo [cemetery], which belongs to the government," the deputy prime minister said at a news conference in Madrid.
Calvo also added that the Spanish government had finished on Friday making all of the necessary preparations for the exhumation process.
READ MORE: Spain to Exhume Franco's Remains Despite Court Ruling
The exhumation of the former dictator's remains has been a controversial topic. Franco's family members have sued the Spanish government, which approved the motion to move the remains in 2018, thereby causing delays in the process.
A Spanish judge accepted the petition from Argentine judge Maria Servini to open Mendieta's grave as part of Servini's on-going investigation into crimes against humanity by the regime of Francisco Franco.
— Lucas Laursen (@lucaslaursen) March 15, 2019
The Spanish government, however, maintains that the "Valley of the Fallen" memorial monument should house only the remains of people who died as a result of the Spanish Civil War, and not of the late dictator whose regime oversaw thousands of executions. in 2018, Calvo said that democracy was not compatible with a state tomb that honoured the memory of Franco.
