Francisco Franco, Bronze sculpture in Plaza de España, Oviedo, Spain

The Francisco Franco monument in Plaza de España, Oviedo, is a bronze and stone group by Juan de Ávalos, dated 1975 and inaugurated in 1977. Neptune, to the right of the steps, rides a dolphin through the sea; Apollo crosses the sky facing the sun. Hera, wife of Zeus, stands on a tall central pedestal that once held a bronze disc with Franco's effigy.

The pre-constitutional city council commissioned the monument after Franco's death; it was inaugurated in 1977, with the bronze and stone work by Juan de Ávalos. A bronze medallion with Franco's effigy and a metal ring inscribed "Oviedo a Francisco Franco" were fixed to Hera's pedestal. Following the 2007 Historical Memory Law, requests for removal led the municipal government to take them down on 8 June 2015.

The group pairs Hera at the centre with Neptune, shown riding a dolphin to the right of the steps, and Apollo facing the sun. A bronze disc on Hera's pedestal carried Franco's effigy and a metal ring read "Oviedo a Francisco Franco"; both were removed on 8 June 2015.

The monument stands in Plaza de España, at the junction of Calle Uría and Calle Jovellanos. The bronze medallion with Franco's effigy and the metal ring inscribed "Oviedo a Francisco Franco" were removed from Hera's pedestal on 8 June 2015, so look for the empty fixing points on the stone.

The bronze medallion with Franco's effigy and the metal ring inscribed "Oviedo a Francisco Franco" were removed from Hera's pedestal on 8 June 2015. The removal followed a contentious-administrative procedure brought by two PSOE and IU members and a favourable ruling from the Cultural Heritage Council of Asturias.