King Felipe VI on Friday invoked Spain’s transition to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 as a model for resolving conflicts in today’s politically divided climate.
“In times when disagreement is expressed with tension and anger, looking back at that period can help us,” he said at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the monarchy following Franco’s death.
“Not to idealise it, but to remember its approach: dialogue over shouting, respect over disdain, and the pursuit of agreement over the imposition of one’s will.”
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Franco’s death on November 20th 1975 ended 36 years of authoritarian right-wing rule that followed the devastating 1936-1939 civil war which brought him to power.
Felipe’s father, Juan Carlos, was proclaimed king two days later, inheriting the dictator’s absolute powers.
He swiftly moved to relinquish those powers, disappointing Francoists by supporting a parliamentary system within a constitutional monarchy.
Democratic elections followed in 1977 and newly enfranchised Spaniards approved a new constitution guaranteeing free elections in a referendum the following year.
READ ALSO – Franco’s Spain: a long and brutal dictatorship
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Juan Carlos, now 87, abdicated in favour of his son in 2014 following a series of scandals over his finances and private life that dented his popularity.
He has lived in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates since 2020 and did not attend Friday’s ceremony.
At the event, Felipe awarded his mother, former Queen Sofía who has remained in Spain, the Order of the Golden Fleece, one of the country’s most prestigious honours.
He praised her for “supporting with conviction King Juan Carlos, my father, in his wise and early commitment to democratic openness and freedoms”.
