When the case of Pablo Ibar, who was convicted in a...

When the case of Pablo Ibar, who was convicted in a notorious 1994 triple murder in Miramar, reaches Florida's Supreme Court in December, Spain will be watching closely. Florida become a focal point for the Spanish citizens' passionate opposition to the death penalty. Spaniards raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for the defences of Spanish citizens on death row -- $150,000 in Ibar's case alone. Eight Spanish senators will visit Ibar on death row in December, before watching his attorney argue the case in the Tallahassee court. Javier Vallaure, the consul general of Spain in Coral Gables, said Spanish opposition to the death sentence may stem from the authoritarian rule of Francisco Franco Bahamonde. "We had the death penalty during the Franco regime and probably, there is something in the back of our heads that the death penalty was used as an instrument," said Vallaure. Two convicts already have benefited from the attention. Joaquin Jose Martinez was released after his 2001 acquittal by a jury in a new trial and returned to Spain. Julio Mora had his sentence reduced to life in prison. Ibar is the third.