Francisco Franco Martínez-Bordiú (El Pardo, 1954) receives LA RAZÓN in his Madrid home convalescing from a severe flu. Without stridency, and in a serene tone that does not disturb either by criticizing the “aristocracy” of the political class or the Church that has “given up” in the Valley of the Fallen, “dominated by this blackmailist and Cainite Government”, he shows some memories of his grandfather, such as a photo in which the two are seen sharing a day of hunting, or an image of Emilio Mola dedicated to Franco by the “Director” himself, just a few months before his death, in 1937.
As you are almost 71 years old and it is 50 years since your grandfather’s death, how has the passage of time treated you both?
Each of us has been defending ourselves as best we could, and my grandfather, in the end, will be judged by history, no matter how much this Government applies the “damnatio memoriae” to him. I believe that what he has done has been so enormous for so long that, in a few years, history will judge him, incredibly not yet.
What vivid memories do you have of him?
I was his hunting companion, and I traveled on the boat with him, for me he was an absolutely endearing grandfather; In political matters he was absolutely oblivious. Then, over the years I have seen with perspective the things that have been done and what has happened and, for me, I have grown as a statesman. Despite everything they say.
He also dedicated a book to him (“The Nature of Franco”).
I was talking about the personal part of my grandfather, about the political part I am not the one to judge, I am not objective, but the facts are incontrovertible.
His mother said that time would put him in his place
Now I agree with you. I thought not because the story of the political parties – of which I was not a supporter – has been to try to erase it, but I think that, in the end, they have not succeeded at all.
The 2019 exhumation was, without a doubt, a turning point for the family. Something they had never expected, I imagine
It remains a unique thing in the world, that is, an expropriation of a corpse. To this day he remains kidnapped by the Government in a mausoleum that belongs to the Government. And that we, to go visit him or pray to him (Mingorrubio), have to ask permission. It’s an inconsistency, but that’s how it is.
Who would you blame most on October 24?
There is no specific person who can be blamed, I believe that the new era of the socialist left, already radicalized, has sought the confrontation of sides and the figure of my grandfather has been one of the things that it has handled in an obsessive way. First, Zapatero, and the successor, Sánchez: it is an obsessive thing out of time and place.
That was a step marked by socialist memory laws, what have they contributed?
Not a positive confrontation. The Valley of the Fallen was a place of reconciliation and they have turned it into a place of confrontation.
Strasbourg was the last resort they had, but it was useless
He did not go into the substance of the matter. We thought so, because, when the Supreme Court discussed the expropriation of the corpse, we believed that Strasbourg was going to be positive. But it is already a thing of the past, water that does not move the mill.
One of the great protagonists then was the prior of Cuelgamuros, Santiago Cantera, today “exiled” in a hermitage of unknown whereabouts.
I have always said that Spain has been a country of heroes because there have been many throughout history. But if you talk to me about these last 50 years, or maybe the last 30, the only one I know is Father Cantera, who has been a hero for me, and for many people, because he has been faithful to his ideas. He has done what he believed was right and what was his duty and he has not bowed down to anyone. Neither before his hierarchical superiors, in the Church, nor to the Government, despite all the pressure received. From every point of view, he has continued his path and until they have kicked him out he has not moved.
And what do you think of the plans for the Valley of the Fallen?
They are the kings of doing insubstantial things that are worthless, with everyone’s money. It was something for reconciliation and now it serves to spend money absurdly.
This same November, President Sánchez intends to erase Franco through the Official State Gazette
The wild card Franco has played it several times already, but I think this time it gives him fewer votes, and it could take him away because everything is so ridiculous… Like those 100 acts that have passed without pain or glory, more than to spend public money because, yes, we haven’t stopped spending money on absurd things.
And what about those 50 years of “Spain in freedom”?
I say that in Spain people who are over 75 years old today will remember that, in other times, everyone could buy a home, their children could study… The house in a period of 7 to 10 years because there were no loans like now to go into debt for a lifetime, that even today university students cannot buy apartments. But at that time, for many years, people, everyone who wanted to, bought an apartment, and I’m talking about workers. And in addition, men practically worked in 80% of the homes. There was only one salary, but it was enough to buy. The other day, on the radio, I heard that in 1977 personal income tax was imposed, and I don’t know if VAT was imposed before or after. That is to say, before people used to spend what they earned on what they wanted. Today the State takes a very important portion and what it has done is destroy the middle class. My grandfather told Vernon Walters (Nixon’s envoy) when he came to ask in ’71 what was going to happen after his death: “Don’t worry because I have created a middle class that is not going to let anything happen,” he told him. That middle class has been absolutely decimated in this country. It has been laminated because it is the one that bears the weight of taxes that go into political clientelism of all kinds, starting with corruption, moving on to subsidies. The level of poverty that exists in Sánchez’s Spain has never existed, it has not been known in the last 60 years. There are people who are working and who are poor. This is what this policy of the parties that sell us freedoms has led us to, I don’t know what freedom we are talking about.
What other differences do you see between today’s Spain and the one your grandfather lived in?
That there are more poor people than ever, more inequalities than ever, and yes, there will be a lot of freedom to change your sex or to decide whether to have an abortion or not, but to be able to buy a house, or build a future, there is very little freedom because people are suffocated. I never talked about politics with my grandfather, the only question I asked him was because his obsession with political parties seemed bad to me and I asked him to explain it to me. He told me: “Because I have lived through them and I know that they only think about themselves, but not about Spain.” Nobody defends Spain in games and it is the reality of what we are seeing. And there I’m talking about the entire political spectrum. That is to say, they go about their business, they appoint their people and not people based on meritocracy, and that’s how our hair looks.
Is there any party that saves?
In principle, I think my grandfather was right about this. I’m not saying that they aren’t a necessary evil, because they exist in every country. But, at least, those who have led us since democracy arrived, which have been the Popular Party and the Socialist Party, and who have had absolute majorities and have alternated in power, have been disastrous. Housing, which is the biggest problem in Spain, and is an issue that I know well, is something dramatic. Of course, no one assumes the blame for why this situation has arisen, when the responsibility lies entirely with them. The fact is that during 40 years 4.5 million social housing units were built. And I don’t know the figure, but the number of social housing that has been built since ’75 must be so ridiculous! These years of inaction lead to the fact that today there is no housing for people who do not have great resources.
The ruling on the Pazo de Meirás by the Supreme Court is still pending. What can happen?
From the ridiculous scene of the judge with the keys, as if it were a trophy, to the fact that the day after the ruling it appeared in the Official Gazette that the owner was the State, without there being a final ruling. And today there still isn’t one. And here we are.
The Cornide House is another property in dispute that the City Council of La Coruña is pursuing
The manor thing, in principle, turned out well for them and we are going to try with that and with everything we can and a little more. But one thing has nothing to do with the other because that never belonged to the State, nor was it a residence nor was it maintained by the State. But, for trying it, let it not be.
Is there anything new on this topic?
No, I try to be positive, look to the future and work. I’m not looking back all day to see what there is and what there isn’t. We have lawyers who handle it, who manage it, and the truth is that I am not aware of what is happening. I mean, it affects me, but I don’t want to get bitter about these types of situations.
And Ferrol’s birthplace, what situation is it in?
We are going to build that one, what happens is that we have had a license for two years and we have everything, but there is the plaque where it says that my grandfather was born and no one makes the decision of what to do with it, because if it has to be removed, it will be removed. The Councilor for Culture has gone to ask Heritage and no one makes any decision. The house was in a sorry state and three of the brothers already have a project to promote and sell it because it makes no sense to have it like this.
A plate like this shouldn’t be a problem
But they have put that catch. We have been working on what to do with the plate for two years, and the project has been approved. But everything that has to do with us is that complicated.
The process to outlaw the Franco Foundation has begun, and they want to apply preventive measures
It happened in the Pazo de Meirás; With the expropriation of the corpse, the same, and with the Foundation, they will do what they want because respect for legal times is when it suits them. If not, they don’t care.
He does not have a very direct involvement with the Foundation…
Of course, I belong to the Foundation, I think it does an immeasurable job in trying to remember what Franco has represented in Spain. What changes that there is a Francisco Franco Foundation? It doesn’t change anything, but it is another of their obsessions and so they spend money with this democratic memory.
The key is that they blame the Franco Foundation for “humiliating the victims”
A humiliation? I don’t see why, I have always defended that Francoism does not exist nor has it ever existed, nor has it ever been intended. That is to say, my grandfather was just another general who, at one point, assumed command of the nation and remained head of state until he died. The victims? Fortunately or unfortunately, it happened many years ago. And how humiliating it can be that there are people who simply keep the memory of my grandfather alive. I don’t think that’s a humiliation for anyone, and I insist that no one has ever been humiliated.
Finally, apart from the mass on Velázquez Street for your grandfather this very day the 20th. Are you going to do something special?
No, I think not. We’re not going to do anything.
Complete interview with Francisco Franco Martínez-Bordiú