Franco's Galician country house to open doors to public

The family of deceased dictator Francisco Franco has announced that it will open its country house in Meirás to the public "within a few weeks."

The Popular Party-run regional government of Galicia said on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with the relatives of the former head of state to organize guided tours of the small fortress located in Sada, A Coruña, on at least four days a month. The estate was given as a gift to the Generalísimo, with funds that apparently came from a voluntary collection from the public during the Spanish Civil War. The deal with the Franco family was sealed after the previous regional administration in Galicia, a coalition of the Socialists and the BNG Galician nationalists, attempted to have the estate declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, which would have obliged its proprietors to open its doors to the public.

After approving on Thursday morning the decree regulating visits to the estate, the regional premier, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, stated that the deal with the dictator's descendants did not include any pecuniary compensation. Feijóo did say that the Francos had registered their concern over the property's security, which the regional government has guaranteed. According to the Xunta, the guided tours will last about an hour per group.

"In the next few weeks it will be possible to visit [the estate] as it is the rest of the buildings of cultural interest in the region, with all the safety and juridical safeguards in place to prevent the possible deterioration of the estate."

The Caudillo's heirs had attempted to block the opening of the property to the public through various legal recourses to delay the declaration of the estate as a protected building. Both the Galicia High Court and Supreme Court rejected a suspension, although the legal proceedings remain open.