Francisco Franco is still dead

[Zomby Woof]

34 years out.

4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975.

[madinmaryland]

1. Abe Vigoda is still alive.

[rcrush]

12. Why wont he die?

He needs to give it up already. Damn Zombie.

[Call Me Wesley]

2. And it's very well deserved, IMO.

What's with these people and their fantasy uniforms?

[Zomby Woof]

4. A little personal backstory

We moved to Spain exactly 2 weeks after he died, and I will never forget the somber vibe in the air - the weight of the unknown (I was 8 at the time). It was an interesting time - Juan Carlos proved he was serious about modernizing and democratizing the country. We left Dec. 7 '78, the day the voters ratified their present day constitution.

So the classic Saturday Night Live joke always had a personal resonance with me. I spent more than 1/3 of my childhood outliving his shadow.

[Call Me Wesley]

7. One of my friends relatives (his grandfather) was

in jail during El Caudillo's reign because he fought for the Republic. He was pardoned after Franco's death.

I think he was never thought of as a 'real' dictator, which he surely was, but the economic thrive of Spain helped him being in power. The last statue of Franco fell in 2008, and there's one still standing, although in Africa ( in Melilla, a Spanish enclave.)

[Zomby Woof]

9. I remember similar pardons

Also remember in the summer of '77, when there was rioting and unrest in some quarters because Juan Carlos legalized the Socialist and Communist parties for the first time since the Civil War. To the far left, he shed the tag of being a puppet of the Francoists, and to the Old Guard, a traitor of the worst sort - when of course, he was never either one of those - which is ultimately why he won the respect of the rank-and-file. The hard right had fought the reforms that were under way as far back as '73, but had deluded themselves into thinking it was mostly generated by burgeoining leftist opportunists capitalizing on a dying old man losing his grip. They got the 'dying old man losing his grip' part correct - but the reforms were largely begun by pragmatists, and Franco gave his implicit consent, or was just impotent to stop them, depending on which side speaks (he actually played up endorsing some of them, for he was like most caudillos, obsessed with his legacy). The true believers from Franco's camp put a lot of faith in Juan Carlos re-consolidating power, but the genie was out of the bottle, and the crafty new king wasn't going to deny progress. There was also a recurring fear that a new Republic, too hastily created, would re-kindle a new civil war, and the riots surely raised the spectre from time to time. The coup attempt by the far right in 1981 was their last gasp at such a goal. Juan Carlos to this day is revered because his national TV address quelled the coup, and at last reassured the left, right, and middle that Spain was to stay the course as a modernizing European nation.

The real headache in maintaining their democracy has been the autonomous regions of the Basques and Catalans - especially the former, with the ETA and so forth. Spain has always been held together like a loosely cemented mosaic. Even as the nation has entered the European mainstream (NATO in 1982, the EU since), it remains domestic problem #1.

My three years in Spain solidified a life-long love and interest which will never diminish.

[Call Me Wesley]

10. I agree.

ETA, which still remains, is a product of Franco. What I always thought was pretty interesting or fascinating was that a monarch (Juan Carlos) put into 'power' by Franco had to lead Spain into a modern democracy. It's a bit like the joke about that only Nixon could go to China. Franco first asked the vast-right-winger Otto von Habsburg to be his predecessor, but he declined.

There's still a great rightist movement there bowing to Franco. On the other hand, everyone I know from Spain is quite left, and most of them defend Juan Carlos.

You did read Orwell's 'My Catalonia,' yes?

[Zomby Woof]

13. 'Homage to Catalonia' is my favorite Orwell work

Long ago, in GD (we're talking 2002, lol) I posted an essay on it and its lessons. I wouldn't dare now - it would sink faster than Palin's book sales, LOL.

[Call Me Wesley]

14. Nothing can beat Palin right now.

Sorry for the wrong title, in German it was 'Mein Katalonien.' I need to get the original, though.

I always liked it, and Orwell, being a member of the Trotskyte POUM, got under heavy criticism after that from the mainstream of communism, which was endorsing Stalin, no matter what. Which then lead to 'Animal Farm' and '1984.'

Great book. And it had it's cringing moments; like when he, a former experienced soldier, got a rusty old gun, and the youngster next to him a new one.

I've read all of Orwell's books.

[Zomby Woof]

16. Then no need for me to recommend

"The Road to Wigan Pier" or "Keep The Aspidistra Flying". I always felt his non-fiction was grossly overlooked - but then, "1984" and "Animal Farm" cast formidable shadows. Still, the essay works are like the instructiona manuals for his novels.

[many a good man]

18. Who doesn't love King Juan Carlos?

Outside of old falangists feeling betrayed and some separatists? His support for the democracy was unexpected and thwarted what may have turned into another civil war. IMO he's one of the greatest men of our times.

May Franco stay long dead. Frighteningly, to this day there are some who march in goose step up to his grave at Valle de los Caidos, give the Seig Heil salute, and bend down to kiss his grave.

[Zomby Woof]

20. I admire him a great deal

There were some over in GD frothing at him because he had the balls to tell Hugo Chavez to "shut up". That was long overdue. But because Juan Carlos is a king, that automatically, with no sense of his history or use of any contextual or critical thought, made him The Bad Guy.

To echo what CMW said upthread - call it a paradox, call it irony - it took a king (the grandson of their previous monarch at that) to actually bring democracy to Spain. Why? Because he had the wisdom to understand that Spain could not stay in the 19th century forever.

As I mentioned upthread also - Juan Carlos legalized the Socialist and Communist parties in Spain less than 2 years after Franco died. That was rather extraordinary given the nearly 40 years of oppression that just passed, and considering Franco's virulent anti-communism. Unlike the tinpot demagogue Chavez, he actually welcomes all voices to the table and doesn't shut down the opposition. That's true democracy.

Back in '78, they rushed all of us out of our classrooms to the naval station's airfield for an impromptu field trip. It was for a demonstration of the then brand new YAV-8B "Harrier" fighter jets. Our next door neighbor was an employee of McDonnell-Douglas, the developer of the jet. He and his wife actually met Juan Carlos and Sophia on the tarmac before the demonstration. I was standing approximately 100 yards away and witnessed Juan Carlos kiss Mrs. H's hand. Later that evening after school, she excitedly shared the story with my mother, lol. Mrs. H swore off washing her hand for a long time.

So to recall the Kevin Bacon game, I am 2 degrees from the king. :-)

[many a good man]

21. LOL! Two degrees

I guess I'm two degrees removed also. My better half has family in Mallorca where the King likes to visit. Mallorquins are typically indifferent to celebrities, which is why so many frequent the place. El Rey has visited their seaside village many times and often makes the effort to strike up conversations with locals. He goes to local cafes and is warm and open. There are many bad memories of the Franco era and Juan Carlos is widely adored. Unfortunately after last summer's ETA bombings during his holiday there many expect him to exercise more caution.

[XRubicon]

3. What would he be doing if he were alive today?

I think he would be scratching the lid of his coffin yelling let me out.

[Sanity Claws]

5. Is he still Generalissimo?

People under 35 probably don't know the origin of that remark.

[Zomby Woof]

6. or "El Caudillo"

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Link?

Oh never mind. I thought this was posted in LBN.

[Swede]

11. This always happens in threes,too.

:rofl:

[ThatsMyBarack]

15. GOOD NIGHT AND HAVE A PLEASANT TOMORROW!

:hi:

[Wapsie B]

17. Yeah and he's gett'n kinda ripe too.

[The Midway Rebel]

19. and now for the hearing impaired: OUT TOP STORY TONIGHT...

GENERALISSIMO FRANCISCO FRANCO IS STILL DEAD!

[old mark]

22. Neat suit, though -

what wars was he in to get those medals?

mark