People walking in Seville in 2005
© AFP/File Cristina Quicler

MADRID (AFP) - The municipal council approved Thursday the withdrawal of the title of "adopted son" of Seville and a gold medal awarded to the late general Gonzalo Queipo de Llano, who captured the city in 1937 during the civil war that brought Francisco France to power.

The 40 street names to be changed bear the names of personalities or symbols of the France regime.

The measures were taken under a law approved in 2007 by the Socialist majority parliament to rehabilitate Franco's republican opponents, particularly those killed during the war or under his rule.

The daily El Pais said some municipal authorities, particularly those held by the conservative Popular Party, were dragging their feet in applying the law, citing Malaga, Granada, Huelva and Cadiz.

©AFP