Spain: Franco's Palace Returns To the Hands of the State

The Spanish state expropriated on Thursday the house of former dictator Francisco Franco. Also, it evicted his heirs, an act qualified by the authorities as "very important in terms of historic and democratic memory."

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Franco took over the palace in 1941, which was bought with public funds in 1938. Even during the civil war, the dictator used it as his summer residence. It was passed to his relatives after his death, who priced it at $5.93 million last year.

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice remarked the "enormous work made by the team of lawyers" during a legal fight that has been "legally complex and very singular."

The Lawyer General of the State Consuelo Castro Rey said that today, also the International Day of Human Rights, "has a symbolic and historical value that no one can ignore."

Although it is a provisional expropriation, it fulfills the mandate of the Judge of the Court nº 1 of First Instance of A Coruña, Marta Canales, that the Franco family returned this property to the General State Administration.

According to the authorities, the palace has 700 objects of historical value.