Should the exaltation of Francoism and other types of «related» behaviors be punished?: the frustrated attempts of the legislator and an escape route (the administrative-sanctioning)

Abstract

In recent years, the criminal punishment of certain speeches, messages or ideologies linked to the Franco regime has aroused the interest of some political groups in Spain. The question is whether in a non-militant democracy like ours such punitive intervention is constitutional. Or, if, on the contrary, they should be tolerated because they cons-titute one more manifestation of the fundamental right to freedom of expression. In this work we will carry out a critical analysis of some legislative proposals that have pointed in this direction: that of criminalizing such behaviors. Likewise, we will assess the strategy used by the legislator to redirect such behaviors to the administrative-sanctioning route.