Content note: Photograph of Franco's tomb in the basilica of the Valley of the Fallen, a monument built in part by prisoners' labour; its place in Spanish memory is disputed. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Franco's tomb before the high altar, Valley of the Fallen (photograph, 2005)
Photograph of the slab marking Franco's grave in the Basilica of the Valley of the Fallen, fenced by a red cord and carrying a posy of red and white carnations, at the foot of the marble steps to the high altar. The tell: the head of state is buried in the sanctuary of a state basilica built for the dead of the civil war, so the church's sanctity and the war dead's sacrifice attach to him.
- Date
- 1975
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Spanish state (Franco regime): Valley of the Fallen, decreed 1940, inaugurated 1959; burial of Franco 23 November 1975
- Country
- Spain
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Francoist Spain
- Leader
- Francisco Franco
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Themes
- Religion, War and the military
- Event
- Valley of the Fallen
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Leader
- Francisco Franco
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (photograph by Xauxa Håkan Svensson), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY-SA 3.0 (photographer's own work, per Wikimedia Commons file page)
Xauxa Håkan Svensson, "ValleDeLosCaidos Tomb Franco.jpg", Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Text on the object
[no text legible on the object]
No inscription is legible on the slab in this photograph.
