Today, along with the still open wounds of the civil war and the repression, two other shadows of the dictatorship hang over Spain - corruption and regional division. The Caudillo's rigid centralism and its brutal application to the Basque Country and Catalonia had left more powerful nationalist movements there than had ever existed before The democratic constitution of enshrined rights of regional autonomy for Catalonia and the Basque Country with which the right has never been comfortable.
Mass pressure in Catalonia for increased autonomy met with an intransigence that has fuelled a campaign for independence. Drawing on a residual Francoist centralism, the Popular Party has fomented hostility to Catalonia in particular for electoral gain. The consequent divisiveness, at times bordering on mutual hatred, is one of the most damaging legacies of Francoism. The other is the corruption that permeates all levels of Spanish politics.
Needless to say, there was corruption before Franco and corruption is not confined to Spain. Nevertheless, it is true that the Caudillo used corruption both to reward and control his collaborators.
Recent research has uncovered proof of how he used his power to enrich himself and his family. In general, the idea that public service exists for private benefit is one of the principal legacies of his regime. It will thus be many years before Spain is free of Franco's legacy. Remove Franco remains - Spanish lawyer. Madrid to drop Franco street names. Catalan election: Looming independence or little change? It would, in effect, oblige people to confront the past. This is not an easy task.
Spaniards must come to terms, for example, with the fact that Franco did not act alone and that his crimes and achievements some economic progress, after all, was inevitable over almost four decades were committed by a whole tranche of Spanish society, along with the dictator and his henchmen. Coming to terms with the past this way is uncomfortable, which is why it is so much easier to demolish it. Smaller monuments have already been removed. In Barcelona a massive, sculpted street monument to Primo de Rivera that was inaugurated in front of a crowd of stiff-armed local Francoists in the s has gone.
Its removal — and the absence of any reminder that the monument was ever there — helps reinforce the false idea there that local Francoists, like the future International Olympic Committee head Juan Antonio Samaranch , were few and far between. Spanish fascism, it is worth remembering, was not a purely Castilian invention. On April 1, , after receiving an unconditional surrender, Franco announced the end of the Spanish Civil War.
Sources vary, but many estimate the number of casualties resulting from the war as high as ,, with perhaps as many as , the result of executions perpetrated by Franco and his forces.
For nearly four decades following the conflict, Franco — who became known as "El Caudillo" the Leader — would rule Spain through a repressive dictatorship.
Immediately following the war, military tribunals were held that led to tens of thousands more being executed or imprisoned. Franco also outlawed unions and all religions except for Catholicism, as well as banning the Catalan and Basque languages. To enforce his power over Spain, he established a vast network of secret police. As a result, Spain was ostracized by the United Nations, placing a significant economic strain on the country. Over time, Franco began to relax his control of Spain, removing some of the restraints of censorship, instituting economic reforms and promoting international tourism while maintaining his position as head of state.
In , amidst a period of declining health, he named his successor, Prince Juan Carlos, whom he believed would maintain the political structure that Franco had established and rule as a king.
In June , the first elections were held since Spain has remained a democracy ever since. Franco was buried in a massive mausoleum at the Valley of the Fallen, constructed by the dictator — with the use of forced labor — as a monument to the dead of the Spanish Civil War. But amidst the often-fractured political environment in post-Franco Spain, the site remains more or less unchanged. The cost of removing the granite slab, weighing 1. Spanish court backs dictator Franco's exhumation.
Spain paves way to remove Franco remains. Spain far right protest at Franco tomb. Spain exhumes bodies at Franco-era shrine. Franco victim's daughter prises open past. The battle to strip Franco family of dictator's summer palace.
The Spanish children Britain didn't want. Spain monument's fate reopens old wounds. Spanish war 'drew 4, Britons'. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Franco victim's daughter prises open past Erasing Franco's memory one street at a time UN presses Spain on Franco crimes.
Image source, Getty Images. Thousands of victims of the civil war are buried in mass graves at the Valley of the Fallen. Franco's tomb is a pilgrimage site for Spanish fascists today.
Francisco Franco, Born in Galicia to a military family, became the youngest general in Spain in the s Following the election of the leftist Popular Front in , Franco and other generals launched a revolt, which sparked the three-year civil war Helped by Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy, Franco won the war in and established a dictatorship, proclaiming himself head of state - "El Caudillo" Franco kept a tight grip on power until his death in , after which Spain made a transition to democracy.
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