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Spain is celebrating 50 years of democracy... but it's only been 47
The Spanish government is marking half century since the death of the dictator Franco, but not everyone is happy
For the start of 2025, the Spanish government has launched a series of official acts, including museum exhibitions in Madrid's famous Reina Sofía museum, to mark 50 years of democracy in the country, but the campaign has come under fire for being politically motivated and for providing a false picture of Spanish history.
This year marks 50 years since Spain's dictator General Francisco Franco died on November 20, 1975. He died at home in his bed, peacefully. He was the only one of the European dictators of the 20th century who was not ousted from power.
During his 36-year reign, he unfairly imprisoned political opponents, repressed minority languages and cultures in Spain, denied the rights of women. His rule also oversaw the construction of a large amount of infrastructure in Spain.After his death, Spain gradually transitioned from dictatorship to democracy in 1978, with King Juan Carlos I acting as head of state during those three years to oversee a smooth transition to a system of government that relied on "free and fair" democratic elections.
The current Spanish government, headed by the left-wing Socialist party, is now celebrating '50 years of democracy', but detractors on both the left and the right say that this is not strictly true since 2025 only marks 50 years since the death of Franco, not 50 years of democracy in Spain.
In any event, the year 2028 should be when we celebrate the Gold anniversary of democracy in Spain, which is something virtually all political parties and actors can get behind.
Opposition parties in Spain allege that the Socialist government is using the death of Franco as a political tool for its own ends rather than as a genuine reason for celebration for the Spanish people. By 2028, there will have been fresh elections in Spain and the left-wing PSOE may no longer be in power to take advantage of celebrating democracy the way they would like to, which may be why they are placing such importance on the death of the dictator.
It is the emphasis on the figure of Franco that throws so many people into turmoil. Because he was never overthrown, there is still a strong fascist line of thought among some Spaniards, and the legacy of Franco normally only serves to stir up divisions in Spanish society rather than bring them together over a common enemy.
In 2019, Franco's body was exhumed from its resting place in the Valley of the Fallen, a cemetery built using slave labour with a vast crucifix overlooking Madrid, and placed in his family tomb. Rather than healing historical wounds and rebranding the Valley of the Fallen as a monument to victims of the dictatorship, this move mainly served as an opportunity for so-called neo-Nazis and neofranquistas to pay tribute to the dictator.As the criticisms grow over the Spanish government's policy of marking 50 years of democracy in 2025, we will probably see them downplay the celebrations, at least if they want to avoid bringing the controversial and not altogether maligned name of Franco back into the daily political conversation.
It would be preferable to wait another three years before celebrating the anniversary of the start of democracy in Spain, but whether the country's eternally prickly politicians can wait that long to capitalise on a good thing is doubtful.
Image 1: @sanchezcastejon / Twitter
Image 2: Franco and Mussolini / snl.no
Image 3: Archive
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