MADRID – Spain began on Friday formal proceedings to dissolve an organisation dedicated to promoting the legacy of General Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled the country for nearly four decades.
The move, coming as Spain marks 50 years since Franco’s death, carries heavy symbolic weight, and delivers on a flagship promise from Pedro Sánchez’s first term: the 2022 Democratic Memory Law, designed to honour the victims of the dictatorship and shut down institutions that promote Francoist ideology
In its resolution, the culture ministry said the foundation “glorifies Francoism and praises its leaders, which belittles and humiliates the victims” of both the 1930s Spanish Civil War and the ensuing dictatorship. The group “does not pursue objectives of general interest” and “indirectly incites hatred”, it added.
Experts estimate that around 540,000 people died during the armed conflict, while a further half a million fled to South America after the establishment of Franco’s dictatorship in 1939.
The private organisation is run by members of Franco’s family, with the stated purpose of “disseminating and promoting the study and knowledge of [his] life, thought, legacy and work”. Until her death in 2017, the dictator’s daughter, Carmen Franco, served as its honorary president.
For years, civil society groups have demanded its dissolution – a 2017 petition gathered more than 200,000 signatures – but successive socialist and conservative governments failed to act. Now, the final decision on the foundation’s dissolution will rest with Spain’s judicial authorities.
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