The Spanish parliament passed a bill on Wednesday that condemns the 40-year dictatorship era of Francisco Franco.

The legislation known as “Law of Historical Memory” condemns the imprisonments and execution of Franco’s opponents declaring them as “illegitimate.” It also says that the local governments must help in locating and exhuming the bodies of the victims of the dictatorship.

The bill refers to the fact that all the statues, plaques, and symbols of the regime are to be removed from public buildings. Still the bill has an amendment regarding the Francoist symbols in the Catholic Church, like the national badge with an eagle Fascist arrows or yoke symbol. These symbols are not to be removed from memorials, because they are justified as “artistic-religious” reasons. The church supported Franco’s regime.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Socialist Prime Minister, made the bill a priority of his term in office. His grandfather was one of the thousands executed by Franco’s forces. Before it becomes a law the legislation must pass the Senate, as a formality and be published in the government gazette. This is expected to happen in November.

The new law brought controversy in Spain. The conservative opposition party said that such a law was not necessary and that it reopens wounds that are not fully healed. Still, many Spaniards support the bill.

Emilio Silva, president of an organization that leads efforts to exhume the bodies of civilians killed by Franco’s forces said: “This is a very important moment for Spain. But this law is the beginning, not the end, and it is long overdue. Many, many victims and relatives of those killed have already died without receiving any justice,” the Associated Press reports.

Franco took the power in 1936 from the elected leftist Republican government thus triggering the Civil War. He remained in power until his death in 1975. Political parties of Spain made an unspoken pact regarding the atrocities of the war and decided to ignore them. Because of that no war crimes trials were held.