The Franco Regime

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Sam Tyler: This place is like Guantanamo Bay. Gene Hunt: Give over, it's nothing like Spain. —Life On Mars

Spain under the rule of Francisco Franco, from 1939 to 1975, following the Spanish Civil War.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation (Spain was neutral in World War Two, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against Communists during the Spanish Civil War. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism more common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than the Fascists and Nazis.

Towards the end of his rule, Franco sought to restore the Spanish royal family, then in exile. The rightful king, the Infante Juan, was too liberal to be trusted and Franco instead picked Juan's son Juan Carlos who was still young enough to be groomed into a Francoist mentality.

Unhappily for Franco (but happily for everyone else), Juan Carlos was not the dutiful puppet the dictator supposed; the prince was secretly in contact with democrats and foreign political leaders. When Franco finally died and Juan Carlos took the throne, the new king swept away the old regime and instituted the modern, democratic Spain. Not before dodging a suspiciously well-timed putsch attempt when he was in the nadir of his popularity, attempted by some hard-lined Francoists.

• Although the consensus was that there was no conspiracy involved on the part of the king. The theory is very much the minority opinion.

This just in: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

In fiction

• Pans Labyrinth