Spain launches new push to exhume dictator Franco's remains

MADRID – Spanish authorities are giving Gen. Francisco Franco's descendants a 15-day deadline to find a new burial place for the former dictator before his remains are exhumed from a lavish mausoleum.

Justice Minister Dolores Delgado says the new location can't be a crypt under Madrid's Almudena Cathedral, where Franco's relatives own a tomb. She says government studies have found that burying Franco, a divisive figure in Spain, there could lead to "public disorder."

But family attorney Luis Felipe Utrera says the Francos have the legal right to appeal Friday's decision. Utrera calls the government's move "pure propaganda."

The latest push to exhume France's embalmed body from the Valley of the Fallen comes at a critical time for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has called a new general election for April 28.