It seems appropriate that my classmates and I visited Franco’s grave and the crypts of those who died during the Spanish Civil War for Halloween. The goal of the day was to have a picnic on Franco’s grave.  

El Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) is a memorial located just outside of Madrid. We took a bus from Madrid and hiked the rest of the four miles up the road to the memorial site.

General Francisco Franco, ruler of Spain from 1936 to 1975, ordered it to be built to memorialize those who died during the war. He called it “an atonement for Spain.” This probably meant that he forgave the Republicans for being on the “wrong” side of the war. 

The basilica is built directly into the side of the mountain making the 150 meter (500 ft) cross at the top look even more impressive from far away. As we hiked up, the cross became even more stunning against the trees and sky. 

Inside, the basilica is massive and really quite empty. Besides us, there was only a man waxing the sprawling granite floors. Franco lies, pretty impressively, below the dome of the basilica. He is across from José Antonio Primo de Rivera who was killed by Republicans during the war. A crucified Jesus stands between them, in the center of the dome. 

The underground crypt is even bigger than St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, except that the entrance was unconsecrated to prevent competition with the Vatican. 

Apparently there is some controversy about the memorial site being what it is. Since Franco did not die in the war, the Spanish government in 2011 wanted to exhume his body and let his family rebury him, but the family was against this. The current conservative party has said they do not intend to move the body. Intentions may be good, but it doesn’t sit well with those who were against the dictator since he is now buried next to the very people he fought to kill. 

The memorial was also partially built by Republican prisoners of the war, so that too holds controversy. 

It’s interesting that the crypt inside contains bodies from both the Nationalists and the Republicans that fought during the war. Although as Franco’s grave is front and center, it seems to celebrate the Nationalist’s victory over the death of the defeated. 

Unfortunately, pictures weren’t allowed inside, but we did eat some bread with French cheese on the steps outside of the basilica. Even though it was a couple hundred feet from his gravesite, we can still say we had a picnic pretty close to Franco’s grave.