>>1335418Spain was a shithole before the civil war, yes the war Frnaco started made Spain even shittier for a while but lots of Spain's industry and infrastructure today was built by Franco, e.g. hydroelectric dams and many highways.
As to why he didn't join the Axis and was non-belligerent, Spain just endured a 3 year civil war and was in no condition to fight any of the Allies. Britain and the USA probably would have took over Spain first, as it was such a weak target, and then push the Germans out from the South instead of having D-Day. Franco was a nationalist fascist but not a Nazi, and did not want to completely destroy his country for Hitler, when his country was so weak anyway.
