Spain’s Socialist government has set June 10 as the date for relocating the remains of former dictator General Francisco Franco from a self-aggrandising mausoleum to a more discreet grave in a public cemetery in Madrid.

The country’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez, who is trying to remain in power in the country’s April 28 election, had promised to exhume Franco’s embalmed body from the Valley of the Fallen by the end of 2018.

Spain Franco’s Remains
Flowers are placed on the tomb of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (Andrea Comas/AP)

However, his call has been hampered by opposition from Franco’s relatives and the abbot of the basilica where the dictator was buried in 1975.

The country’s Supreme Court is to deliver a preliminary decision in the coming days.

Deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo said on Friday that the government would comply with whatever the judges decide.