I was chatting with my Spanish neighbor last night and during the conversation he made reference to Franco, Spains dictator. He is a middle aged man and it made me think that it was not so long ago that the country returned to a democracy. It was in fact after his death in 1975. Hard to imagion that a European country was under a dictators rule in modern times and during the major development of tourism on the island. Its certainly still in the memories of many people
Franco’s regime committed a series of violent politically-motivated human rights abuses against the Spanish people, which included the establishment of concentration camps, the use of forced labor and executions, mostly against political and ideological enemies, causing an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths.
After a 36-year rule, Franco died in 1975. He restored the monarchy before his death, which made King Juan Carlos I his successor, who led the Spanish transition to democracy. After a referendum, a new constitution was adopted, which transformed Spain into a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy.
Evidence of the dictatorship in Lanzarote can be found from the village in the north called Punta Mujeres (Ladies Point) which dates back to when men and women were made to bathe separately in the sea. Also there is a street called Generalissimo Franco Avenue with a statue of the dictator in Arrecife