The National Court has agreed to the precautionary suspension of the Government decree declaring the headquarters of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid, located in Puerta del Sol, as a Place of Democratic Memory, where the Directorate General of Security was formerly installed. The resolution includes a dissenting vote.
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In an order, the Chamber upholds the appeal filed by the Lawyer of the Community of Madrid requesting the suspension of the agreement of the State Secretariat for Democratic Memory, dated October 20, 2025, because it caused damage to its institutional image.
According to the Chamber, the agreement must be suspended until the substance of the matter is addressed because if not done, it could cause an “irreversible impairment” to the institutional image of the Community of Madrid.
Furthermore, it considers that the declaration of Place of Democratic Memory may affect, to a greater or lesser extent, the activities carried out there. “These activities go beyond what the challenged Agreement calls ‘administrative offices’ (SIC), overlooking the location, precisely in that space, of the Headquarters of the CAM presidency.”
The Chamber adds that the convergence in the same physical space of such intense and, at the same time, opposing interests also advises, from this point of view, the adoption of the precautionary measure, “since the legitimate purpose of the appeal could be undermined.”
The Court recalls that the declaration of Place of Democratic Memory involves the placement of plaques, panels, or “interpretative memorial distinctive,” as well as “signage” of that space, in which it is also intended to integrate “this place of memory into international circuits.” In addition, the judges point out that the current use of the building is not altered, but at the same time it is stated “that any use given to the property must be compatible with the proposed measures for the preservation of memory…”
On the other hand, in the judges’ opinion, there is no serious disturbance of general interests due to the suspension of the effects of the agreement during the time it takes to process the procedure. “We are faced – it warns – with two conflicting public interests, the one defended by the General State Administration and the one defended by the Autonomous Community of Madrid, although the interest defended by the CAM has special intensity, due to the possible irreversible or intense harm caused by the execution of the challenged agreement.”
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In this conflict of interests, the Chamber points out that the public interest the agreement seeks to protect is not affected by the delay in making it effective until the appeal is resolved.
Finally, it recalls that this procedure is pending the positive conflict of competencies being processed in the Constitutional Court, which also supports the suspension requested by the Autonomous Community of Madrid. “It is enough to highlight for these purposes – it adds – that the decision that may be adopted by the TC has special impact on the present procedure, which allows affirming that the suspension of the effects of the challenged Agreement is, without a doubt, appropriate – apart from the previous reasoning – which are, in every way, conclusive.”
In a dissenting vote, one of the judges of the Chamber does not share the majority’s view regarding the negative impact on the institutional image of the CAM due to the declaration of the building as a Place of Democratic Memory and recalls that the historical events motivating the declaration took place when this institution, tributary to the current democratic regime, did not exist nor could it even be imagined to exist.
“Recalling negative events in Spain’s history is not intended to diminish other values that may be present in the place, such as the historical-artistic ones highlighted by academics, for which the building may even be better known by scholars and the general public, nor to make a judgment devaluing the government action of the autonomous institutions,” he argues.
For this judge, “the interruption of measures to promote democratic memory and the consequent delay in the deployment of reparative action does harm the purpose pursued by the challenged act, transmitting feelings of unease and disbelief to the victims, and projecting a negative image before international bodies about the authenticity of Spain’s commitment to protect democratic memory and its purpose to overcome the dark episodes of its past.”
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