Spanish government asks court to dissolve Francisco Franco National Foundation

Spain’s minority left-wing coalition government has formally requested the judicial dissolution of the Francisco Franco National Foundation as part of efforts to remove the legacy of the country’s dictatorship.

Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun told reporters that authorities have asked for the foundation to be shut down on the grounds that it “glorifies the Franco regime and humiliates the victims of the dictatorship.”

“We have submitted to the judge a solid case file demonstrating that the Francisco Franco Foundation acts against the public interest and humiliates the victims, and therefore must be dissolved. Because in a strong democracy, there is no place for organizations that violate the dignity of victims and attempt to rehabilitate a dictatorship,” said Urtasun.

The government said it began collecting information from June 2024 to support the move under the Law of Democratic Memory, which came into force in October 2022, and regulations governing foundations.

The Francisco Franco National Foundation was established in 1976 by dictator Francisco Franco’s daughter, Carmen, after his death.

In a separate development, Vox party MP Jose Maria Sanchez Garcia was expelled from Spain’s parliament during a debate on Franco-era issues.

During a session in which the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) proposed measures to document book burnings under Franco’s rule, Sanchez clashed with Deputy Speaker Alfonso Rodriguez Gomez de Celis while the chamber was being chaired.

He claimed that Jordi Salvador, an MP from the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), had called him a “Nazi, murderer, ignorant, and idiot” and said he went to the podium to request the floor in response.

Sanchez became the first MP to be expelled from Spain’s parliament since the Feb. 23, 1981 coup attempt after climbing onto the parliamentary podium during proceedings.