There were many things I didn't have on my 2020 bingo card. News about Franco was not one of them.
>It has been more than eight decades since Spain's fascist dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco, took possession of the Pazo de Meirás during the civil war that brought him to power.>Since then, the palace in the northwest region of Galicia has served as an opulent summer retreat - first for the dictator himself, then for his family after Franco's death roughly 45 years ago.>Not anymore.>On Thursday, the Spanish government formally seized the palace from Franco's heirs in a simple ceremony that capped a hard-fought legal struggle to expropriate the property.>The moment was a symbolic triumph for Spain's left-wing government - which won possession of the palace in a court ruling in September, and has repeatedly pushed to remove or reclaim other memorials that glorify the dictator's nearly four-decade reign.>The transfer of ownership Thursday is a credit to "the thousands and thousands of men and women from Galicia and the rest of Spain who have tried to make this place the birthright of all," Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said in a statement. "This was a laudable objective, which dignifies Spanish democracy, which dignifies us all and which has been pushed by the activism of many people.">Calvo said the government plans to repurpose the palace to educate the public about the dark side of Franco's reign and celebrate the legacy of Emilia Pardo Bazán, the prolific writer whose family previously owned the manor.https://www.npr.org/2020/12/10/945017691/spain-evicts-francisco-francos-heirs-from-late-dictators-summer-palace 