Families of victims of Franco regime welcome new Spanish law

Francisca Bosca , daughter of Vicente Bosca, who was killed by the forces of dictator Francisco Franco, poses with a photo of her father after receiving his remains, which were exhumed by the Scientific Association ArqueoAntro, in the Paterna cemetery, Spain, October 1, 2022. Government estimates point to 114,000 civilians who disappeared, presumably killed, behind Franco forces' lines during the war and throughout the dictatorship. REUTERS/Juan Medina

MADRID (Reuters) - Flor Baena has spent decades trying to clear the name of her brother Jose Humberto, who was one of the last five people executed under General Francisco Franco's fascist regime just two months before the dictator's death in 1975.

But on Thursday, the leftist government's Democratic Memory law tackling the legacy of the 1939-1975 dictatorship and the three-year civil war that preceded it was published in the official gazette. As of Friday it annuls all convictions for political, ideological, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.