Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Spain Expropriates Franco's Summer Palace

Graham Keeley

   MADRID - A palace where Spain's longtime ruler, the late General
   Francisco Franco, spent his summers was like an Aladdin's Cave full of
   treasures.

   Pazo de Meiras, a 16-acre property in Galicia, northwestern Spain,
   housed two 12th century sculptures of the prophets Isaac and Abraham,
   paintings by Spanish masters such as Zuloaga, royal tapestries and
   valuable glassware among hundreds of items which the general's heirs
   enjoyed after he died in 1975.

   All this came to an abrupt end on Thursday after the Franco family were
   ordered by a court to hand over the keys to the property to the Spanish
   state.

   It was the end -- for now -- of a long legal battle between Spain's
   left-wing government who have fought to reclaim the historic mansion
   for the national heritage and the late leader's descendants who claim
   it is their property.

   Pazo de Meiras symbolizes a victory for Spain's Socialist government
   which since coming to power in 2018, has made it a priority to rid the
   country of the vestiges of Franco's decades-long rule -- a time that
   many on the left remember as a period of repression.

.