# Franco is still dead, but some miss him **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2025, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011 "2025-11-20T10:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/1 "2025-11-20T10:25:50Z")
Fifty years ago today, on november the 20th 1975, **[Francisco Franco Bahamonde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco)** finally died after 39 years ruling Spain and after a horrible agony in the end. The medical bulletins about his health or progressive lack thereof became a meme before Richard Dawkins (_The Selfish Gene_ was published one year after Franco’s death, in 1976) coined and the internet popularised the term. Many saw his suffering as a compensation, no matter how insufficient, for the pain he had caused others. I can relate. **[He is still dead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo_Francisco_Franco_is_still_dead)**, and will remain so forever. But today many in Spain, particularly many young people who did not live through his dictatorship, say they miss him. Here is NYT gift link to today’s article about that phenomenon: > **[Franco Died 50 Years Ago, but He’s Still Winning New Fans in Spain](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/world/europe/spain-franco-dictator-memory-video-game.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2k8.flvE.3IxJaiEHyXjl&smid=url-share)** > > Young Spaniards are increasingly drawn to the dictator Francisco Franco. So the government is designing apps, games and T-shirts to promote democracy. Deplorable, disgusting and reprehensible, but that is the way it is. Xitter, fake news from the right and bigotry are in part responsible for that, and resentment from the losers and the fascists fuels that. May Godott have mercy on their souls. Nothing you can do about this: some people will be assholes, always and everywhere. Just a warning to you all: in 50 years time there will be a lot of idiots in your country that will say trump was fantastic and they whished he came back because they miss him. It is regrettable, but I fear it is unavoidable. Just so you know: be prepared. But today is a day to remember when I was a kid and we felt some hope. Much has improved in Spain since, even if the situation is not perfect by a long stretch. Today I will raise my glass to a death I remember personally, a death I associated with good news. [A cada cerdo su San Martín.](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_cada_cerdo_le_llega_su_San_Mart%C3%ADn) Sometimes it just takes awfully long. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/2 "2025-11-20T11:22:46Z")
The human craving to be under the thumb of a raging asshole is eternal. And much more widespread than we’d all hope. Damned shame, but not a surprise. I’m glad he’s still dead and Spain continues to recover. > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > in 50 years time there will be a lot of idiots in your country that will say trump was fantastic and they whished he came back because they miss him. It is regrettable, but I fear it is unavoidable. Just so you know: be prepared. Heck, right now there’s 30+% of the country that lurves everything he does and wishes he’d do about 10x more than he has so far. Once he’s dead and gone and disgraced in the eyes of all sensible people, that percentage will remain constant or grow; just not as loudly. When wearing rose-colored glasses the bloodshed doesn’t look quite so crimson. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/3 "2025-11-20T11:58:01Z")
The Guardian has a similar report > **[‘Dangerous nostalgia’: did Spain’s ‘pact of forgetting’ after Franco leave...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/19/franco-continues-to-haunt-and-divide-spain?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other)** > > Events to mark the 50th anniversary of dictator’s death are intended to remind Spaniards, particularly the young, of the dangers of fascism ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/4 "2025-11-20T14:09:22Z")
It’s surprising how realistic “The Lord of the Rings” was, considering the subject matter. For example when the Professor tells us that evil is never really defeated and has to be beaten again and again, from time to time. We are, it seems currently on one of those times: “Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/5 "2025-11-20T14:52:39Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > But today many in Spain, particularly many young people who did not live through his dictatorship, say they miss him. Ain’t that always the problem? People deal with some horrible heinous problem, their kids grow up hearing about how bad it was so they remain wary, and then _their_ kids grow up without first or even second hand experience of the problem so they repeat the mistakes of the past. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/6 "2025-11-20T15:04:57Z")
Obligatory [news update](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwSh0dAaqIA) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/7 "2025-11-20T15:16:46Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Nothing you can do about this: some people will be assholes, always and everywhere. Just a warning to you all: in 50 years time there will be a lot of idiots in your country that will say trump was fantastic and they whished he came back because they miss him. It is regrettable, but I fear it is unavoidable. Just so you know: be prepared. A few years ago we had a Uzbekistani intern who looked at me with a straight face while explaining the many virtues of Joseph Stalin. When I asked him about the purges and the many Soviet lives his policies ended he just shrugged it off. You’re right, we’re going to find people who continue to hold onto Trump for many, many years. We’ve got people who still admire Hitler and the Confederacy even though both lost, bringing destruction, misery, and shame to their own country. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/8 "2025-11-20T17:11:35Z")
I’m in the middle of reading a review about a book on Franco in the New York Review. I knew he was a piece of slime, but I hadn’t realized how big of one he was. And I never realized how antisemitic he was either. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/9 "2025-11-20T17:14:54Z")
Given the current world political environment this is not remotely surprising unfortunately 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/10 "2025-11-21T00:40:35Z")
well 50% of the population have an IQ below avg. in Spain as well … ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/11 "2025-11-21T00:44:26Z")
I’m pretty sure the issue here is more a lack of morality than of intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/12 "2025-11-21T02:03:58Z")
I think it would be really cool if major newspapers would just devote a little section to saying “President Donald Trump is still alive” on their front pages every day from now on until that’s no longer true. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/13 "2025-11-21T11:41:47Z")
How many of those young people who “miss Franco” actually believe that, and how many are going by the mantra of “do whatever will piss off your parents/those in charge”, though? Many young people, under Franco, said that they were communist, anti-fascist, etc. I know more than a few that said that and that, nowadays, are hard right-wingers. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/14 "2025-11-21T11:50:01Z")
well… a swing-voter needs to be pragmatic … ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/15 "2025-11-21T17:20:13Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > few years ago we had a Uzbekistani intern who looked at me with a straight face while explaining the many virtues of Joseph Stalin. When I asked him about the purges and the many Soviet lives his policies ended he just shrugged it off. Recently I saw a TV documentary made by a refugee schoolteacher from Russia, using clips of school life (his job involved documenting school life) to demonstrate the embedded nationalistic propaganda. In one he asked the school’s history teacher which historical personalities he’d like to invite to dinner. The answer was: [Beria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrentiy_Beria) [Abakumov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Abakumov) [Sudoplatov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Sudoplatov). ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/16 "2025-11-22T19:27:50Z")
Wasn’t this a backmasked lyric in a Beatles’ song? “_Franco’s dead man; miss him, miss him._” ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/17 "2025-11-22T19:43:49Z")
Which song would that be? The only reference I get searching is _I’m so tired_ and the conspiracy theory about **[Paul being dead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_So_Tired#%22Paul_is_dead%22_conspiracy_theory)**. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/18 "2025-11-22T19:54:56Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing is happening in Portugal. Salazar was a despot who ruled Portugal for 36 years, treating his subjects like children who didn’t know what was good for them. Portugal spent years catching up to the rest of Europe after the coup in 1976. I’m sure that - the Portuguese being how they are - there is misguided nostalgia for the dictator, especially among those who didn’t have to live through it. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/19 "2025-11-23T12:39:06Z")
It would appear so: > **[How authoritarian legacies and nostalgia underpin support for Chega in...](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2024/03/08/how-authoritarian-legacies-and-nostalgia-underpin-support-for-chega-in-portugal/)** > > Opinion polls suggest Chega could become Portugal’s third-largest party in the 2024 Portuguese elections. But what are the roots of the party’s support? I suppose there will be, in any society, people whose instinctive sociopolitical stance is “Stop the world, I want to get off!” ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011/20 "2025-11-23T19:52:30Z")
Adolescent males often look for shocking things to say. I was that age once. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-is-still-dead-but-some-miss-him/1025011.md?page=2)