Spain has too rosy a view of Franco's regime. Let's remind ourselves of its horrors | Giles Tremlett

"At first sight, few suspected that Francisco Franco might become a strongman capable of imposing a brutal dictatorship across four decades."

"His admirers and defenders including some on the newly buoyant far right in Spain, the US and the UK still claim Franco was never really a dictator, but rather a beloved saviour from communism."

"Of course, if Franco had been genuinely popular, there would have been no need for his 1936 military insurrection against an elected leftwing government, or for the half a million dead of the ensuing Spanish civil war."

Francisco Franco appeared an unremarkable, short, squeaky-voiced army officer but became a ruthless dictator who ruled Spain for forty years and died in a Madrid hospital fifty years ago. A dull facade hid a slippery, clever operator whose ambition relied on iron will, indifference to violence, and unbounded self-esteem. Supporters portray him as a saviour from communism, yet he seized power via a 1936 military insurrection, triggered a civil war with about half a million dead, executed roughly 20,000 afterwards, blamed foreigners and conspiracies, and pursued slow, violent purges to remake Spain.

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