Grupo Generalísimo Franco is the housing estate in the town of Les Borges Blanques (Spain) where my maternal grandparents lived. It was inaugurated in 1962, with symbols of General Francisco Franco’s regime on buildings and street signs: the pickaxe and wheat stalks of the regime’s public housing association, Obra Sindical del Hogar y Arquitectura, and the yoke and arrows of the fascist party, Falange Española y de las JONS.

These symbols were defaced after the death of the dictator. In some cases, their traces are indiscernible. In others, the scar of the chisel leaves a glimpse both of the old reliefs and the act of their removal.