Overview
- Arte broadcasts Das Erbe des Diktators – 50 Jahre Demokratie in Spanien, a 50-year look at Spain since Franco’s death.
- The documentary revisits the transition: Juan Carlos’s succession, the 1977 amnesty, the 1981 coup attempt, and the state’s “dirty war” against ETA that led to a 1998 conviction of ex–interior minister José Barrionuevo.
- It features the Valley of the Fallen and Franco’s 2019 reburial, and includes voices such as foundation president Juan Chicharro and mass-grave activist Emilio Silva.
- Reviewers fault the film for skipping Franco’s 1936 coup framing, downplaying decisive Italian and German support, and giving scant attention to West German cooperation with the dictatorship.
- Further critiques cite light treatment of documented abuses like systematic torture and church-enabled child removals and question interview choices, with one outlet noting reported moves to bar the Franco foundation.