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General Franco's ghosts haunt Spain 70 years after civil war ended

Cristina Fernández Sánchez is more concerned with boyfriends and forging a career as a journalist than with dwelling on the past. At 22, she is part of the generation that grew up as Spain embraced democracy and threw off the shackles of nearly 40 years of dictatorship.

She was born after General Franco died in 1975, and to her the Spanish Civil War was just something she learnt about at school.

“We were taught Franco was a bad man and were only told the basics about what happened. It is interesting, but not something I talk about with friends,” she said.

But today, as Spain marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, even Ms Sánchez is haunted by its ghost. Like many Spaniards, the Civil War left an indelible mark on her family.

Read entire article at Times (UK)