The Francisco Franco Foundation has shared a video celebrating the anniversary of the victory of the dictator's nationalist army in the Spanish Civil War on 1st April 1939. In the accompanying tweet, the foundation describe the it as "a Victory as just as well-deserved".
The video shows photos from that day, including the fascist shield of the Francoist side. With the Spanish anthem playing in the background, a voice-over reads the statement the dictator made that day. "Today, having captured and disarmed the Red Army, the nationalist troops have secured their final military objectives. The war is over."
Hoy celebramos una Victoria tan justa como merecida pic.twitter.com/T5nsRw0d7p
— Fundación F. Franco (@FNFFranco) April 1, 2018
In this way, the foundation celebrates the 79th anniversary of the victory of Franco's army and the start of the dictatorship. The tweet sparked great controversy online, numerous users describing it as intolerable that such organisations, "apologists for fascism", are legal in Spain.
The foundation, which manages Franco's personal archive, says its primary objective is to "spread the memory and work of Francisco Franco". Between 2000 and 2003 it received over 150,000€ in grants from the PP Madrid government.