Olivia Idle
THE 18th-century mansion of Spain’s fascist dictator Francisco Franco has finally opened to the public for the first time in six decades, despite the dictator’s heirs’ attempts to avoid it.
Casa Corinde in A Coruña, Galicia, was originally owned by the City Council before being privatised and placed in the hands of the dictator’s family on the first Monday in August 63 years ago.
More than six decades later, the family has been forced by law to open its doors to the public after it was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2021.
Around thirty people gathered outside Casa Corinde yesterday, demanding the City Council file the lawsuit announced by the municipal government to recover the building.
Manuel Monge, president of the association that organised the event, considers the opening to the public a ‘victory’ but noted the Francos are doing so ‘four years late’.
According to El País, the Francos attempted to evade the rule – requiring them to allow visits at least four days a month – by claiming to the Junta the mansion was their ‘primary residence’.
READ MORE: Spain to declassify ALL Franco-era documents in landmark victory for human rights campaigners
The regional government rejected the excuse as implausible, citing the poor state of repair of the building.
When the dictator’s ancestors were faced with a fine of €3,000, they finally gave in.
The delegation confirmed that the Franco family’s excuse did not hold water, stating that the furniture had disappeared, and woodworm and damp remained rampant within its walls.
The next available slots to enter the property are not until January and the Francos have only offered Monday mornings, between 9am and 1pm, with a limit of five people per hour.
Various visitors over the last two days have said the pieces that remain inside the mansion include a statue of the apostle Saint James dressed as a pilgrim, two medieval capitals and a bas-relief.
A spokesperson for the Commission for the Recovery of Historical Memory in A Coruña has argued a ‘certain complicity’ between the regional government and the Franco family.
The spokesperson suggested delays in the proceedings have allowed them to empty the building of furniture and other items ‘that have not been catalogued and may have been looted’.
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