Franco's gigantic monument to the Nationalist victory in the Civil War never made any attempt at reconciliation and has been seen by many as a symbol of the way in which the Spanish state has failed to confront the crimes committed by the Francoist regime.

The Monument

A giant stone cross towers over the mausoleum complex which was built by Republican prisoners and is now overseen by Benedictine monks.

The entrance to the underground church is adorned by ominous sword-wielding figures and at the end of a 200-metre long tunnel once lay the tomb of dictator Francisco Franco whose body was finally exhumed and reburied in the family mausoleum in El Pardo in October 2019, followed by the removal of the tomb of José Antonio Primo de Rivera (the founder of the Falange) in 2023.

Behind the cross lie the unmarked graves of thousands of Republican prisoners, whose remains were deposited there without the permission of their families.

The Future