bbc:

Most dictatorships end in revolution, or don’t really end at all. Spain was a rare exception.

Francisco Franco died peacefully in 1975, almost four decades after his fascist forces triumphed in the Spanish Civil War. Franco believed he was handing power over to King Juan Carlos –  but Juan Carlos was sensitive to the tide of history. As soon as his mentor died, he moved to install democracy. Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy was remarkably smooth. And that meant Spain never truly reckoned with its past.

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