© Cor Faber en Ellen Bijma
Last update website march 2024
Era of Franco
Spain holiday destination
In
the
1960s,
Spain
became
a
much-visited
holiday
destination.
Tens
of
thousands,
also
from
the
Netherlands,
moved
to
the
country
for
sun,
sea
and
sand.
But
behind
the
facades
of
that
imaginary
world
dramas
were
going
on
that
the
holidaymakers
didn't
know
about
or
didn't
want
to
know
about.
General
Franco's
terror
was
in
full
swing
and
was
jealously
concealed
as
much
as
possible.
The
image
of
a
friendly
Spain
had
to
be
preserved.
The
reality for the Spaniards, however, was very different.
Concentration camps
Concentration
camps
were
already
built
during
the
Spanish
Civil
War.
Opponents
of
Franco
were
housed
there.
The
conditions
were
not
much
different
from
the
(later)
concentration
camps
in
Nazi
Germany.
Although
there
was
no
mass
destruction,
many
people
died
from
exhaustion,
starvation
and
the
arbitrariness
of
camp
guards.
There
was
torture
and
murder.
In
1938
there
were
already
more
than
190
such
camps
with
about
170,000
prisoners
that
year.
At
the
end
of
1939,
that
number
rose
to
between
367,000
and
half
a
million.
After
1939
a
few
more
camps
were
added.
The
latter
camp
was
closed
in
the
late
1950s.
This
had
everything
to
do
with
Franco wanting to change the image of his country.
Robbed children
During
the
36-year
dictatorship,
a
total
of
some
300,000
children
of
leftists
were
taken
from
their
parents
and
placed
with
mostly
wealthy
Francoist
families
for
a
fee.
The
network
of
persons
and
organizations
that
carried
out
this
must
have
been
many
tens
of
thousands
of
persons.
Immediately
afterwards,
these
were
children
of
women
from
the
prisons.
Later,
the
parents
were
also
told
that
the
son
or
daughter
had
died
shortly
after
birth.
They
were
then
told
that
the
baby
had
already
been
buried
and
the
parents
should
be
glad
they
didn't
have
to
pay
the
cost.
As
a
result,
the
necessary
birth certificates are also false.
The
mastermind
behind
it
all
was
psychiatrist
Antonio
Vallejo-Nájera,
born
in
1889
and
the
very
first
professor
of
psychiatry
at
a
Spanish
university.
He
died
in
1960
as
a
man,
especially
by
Franco,
honored.
Between
1965
and
1985,
many
Spanish
archives
were
destroyed.
They
wanted
to
avoid
that
incriminating
documents
would
become
public
after
Franco's
death.
Only
in
that
last
year,
1985,
the
government
decided
that
no
more
archives
could
be
destroyed.
It
turns
out
that
the
trafficking
of
children
actually
continued
into
the
1990s.
That
stopped
because
the
adoption
laws
became
stricter.
That
it
could
go
on
for
so
long
was
because
the
network
that
dealt
with
it
still
existed
and
was
active
and
there
was
still
a
lot
of
money
to
be
made
from
it.
It
wasn't
until
the
2000s
that
rumors
of
stolen
children
started
to
swell.
However,
it
would
take
until
2012
before
action
was
taken
with
the
arrest
of
a nun from the network.
Proclamation of monarchy
As
early
as
1947
Franco
declared
Spain
a
monarchy
again.
In
practice,
however,
nothing
changes.
Franco
does
not
appoint
a
king,
Spain
simply
remains a dictatorship under Franco.
Vatican Concordat
In
1953
Franco
concludes
a
concordat
with
the
Catholic
Church.
A
number
of
things
are
recovered
such
as
tax
benefits
and
legal
power.
Later,
in
the
60s
and
70s,
this
decreases
and
the
church
even
provides
support
for
strikes, etc.
Opus Dei
The
Catholic
organization
Opus
Dei
gains
authority
at
government
level,
including posts at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Luis Carrero Blanco
He
makes
the
statement
before
parliament:
"God
bestowed
on
us
the
immense
favor
of
an
exceptional
leader,
a
gift
such
as
you
may
expect
from
Providence only every three or four centuries."
Carrero
had
already
become
minister
under
Franco
in
1957
and
vice
president
of
the
Council
of
State
in
1967.
Six
months
after
his
appointment
as
prime
minister,
he
was
killed
in
an
attack
by
the
Basque
terrorist
group
ETA.
An
80
kilo
bomb
is
placed
under
the
road
he
often
drives
along.
The
explosion
is
so
powerful
that
the
car
is
thrown
over
a
four-storey
building.
The other two occupants are also killed.
Riots, strikes
In
the
early
1960s,
social
unrest
started
in
Spain.
The
common
people
no
longer
accept
Franco's
rule.
Riots
and
strikes
break
out
among
students
and
workers alike.
It
starts
with
a
strike
by
the
approximately
2,000
workers
at
the
railway
workshops
in
Beassain
in
northern
Spain.
It
is
the
beginning
of
a
long,
almost
succession
of
strikes
that
lasted
until
1975.
Students
are
also
protesting
and
on
strike.
Breaking
that
resistance,
unlike
workers'
strikes,
was
quite
easy.
Workers
could
harm
the
economy,
students
had
little
or
no
trouble
with
it.
In
a
reasonable
number
of
cases,
the
workers
are
also
met
or
strikes
are
broken
less
hard
(less
hard
did
not
mean
that
it
was
done
with a soft hand and meeting the demands completely was never an issue).
From dictatorship to parliamentary monarchy
On
November
20,
1975,
Francisco
Paulino
Hermenegildo
Teodulo
Franco
y
Bahamonde
Salgado
Pardo,
or
Francisco
Franco
y
Bahamonde
for
short
(in
Spain
it
is
customary
to
also
put
your
mother's
surname
in
your
name.
In
the case of Franco this is so Bahamond).
He
is
buried
in
the
Valley
of
the
Fallen,
a
monument
he
previously
had
built
about
40
kilometers
north
of
Madrid.
Also
in
this
monument
are
about
46,000
people
buried,
forced
laborers,
but
also
republicans
who
can
be
proven
to
be
Catholic.
Construction
started
in
1941
and
was
completed
in
1959.
On
June
24,
2019,
Franco
is
removed
from
his
mausoleum
and
reburied
next
to
his
wife
in
the
Mingorrubi
cemetery.
That
has
certainly
not
been
without a struggle due to opposition from the supporters of the dictator.
Two
days
after
Franco's
death,
Spain
unofficially
becomes
a
monarchy
again:
King
Alfonso
XIII's
grandson,
Juan
Carlos
I,
ascends
the
throne.
Although
he
is
a
staunch
supporter
of
Franco
and
his
regime,
he
quickly
tends to restore democracy.
Under
great
national
and
international
pressure,
Spain
is
prevented
from
becoming
a
dictatorship
again.
Economic
interests
naturally
play
a
major
role
in
this,
as
does
the
opposition
from
Spanish
society.
A
dictatorship
can
no
longer
be
sold
in
these
modern
times,
so
is
the
opinion
in
high
circles
in
Spain.
It
was
not
until
December
29,
1978
that
Spain
officially
became
a
constitutional monarchy.
Antonio Vallejo-Nájera
Zegel van Opus Dei
Luis Carrero Blanco
King Juan Carlos I (2007)