Franco family ordered to return palace to Spanish state

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - The family of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco must return a palace in Galicia to the Spanish state, a court ruled Wednesday.

Although Franco’s heirs have owned the property for four and a half decades, the court of La Coruña determined that the palace was donated to the Spanish state and not to the dictator himself.

The judge also ruled that the family would not be compensated for decades-worth of maintenance costs because Franco claimed the property under his own name “in bad faith.”

The palace has the status of protected cultural heritage in Spain and was built for the female novelist Emilia Pardo Barzon in the late 19th century. Two years ago, the Franco family put it up for sale for €8 million ($9.5 million).

Known as the manor house of Meirás, it was Franco’s summer retreat until his death in 1975.

The Franco family still holds vast amounts of wealth in Spain, especially in terms of property. Spanish journalist Mariano Sánchez Soler, who wrote a book about the subject, estimates that their fortune is worth €500-600 million.

Though the family may still appeal the local court’s ruling, this is the second major legal blow to the Franco family. Last year, the Supreme Court allowed the state to exhume Franco’s body from a giant mausoleum and rebury him in a more discreet cemetery.