Duke of Franco ( es, Duque de Franco) was a hereditary title in the

Spanish nobility Spanish nobles are persons who possess the legal status of hereditary nobility according to the laws and traditions of the Spanish monarchy and historically also those who held personal nobility as bestowed by one of the three highest orders of ...

. The title was created in 1975 by

King Juan Carlos King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

and bestowed upon

Carmen Franco María del Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco, Grandee of Spain, Marchioness of Villaverde (14 September 1926 – 29 December 2017) was the only child of Spain's ''caudillo'', General Francisco Franco and his wife, Carmen Polo y Mart ...

, the daughter and only child of Spain's ''

Caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

'',

General Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

. Together with the dukedom, she received a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of new creation. These arms are a variation of the arms of

Andrade Andrade is a surname of Galician origin, which emerged in the 12th century as the family name of the knights and lords of the small parish of ''San Martiño de Andrade'' ( St. Martin of Andrade), in the municipality of Pontedeume. The first ment ...

family of Galicia, from whom Franco was descended through females. A Grandeeship was attached to the title.

History

In 1950, Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess of Franco, had married Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, 10th Marquess of Villaverde, by whom she had several children. Dukes and duchesses of Franco are also

Grandees of Spain Grandees of Spain ( es, Grandes de España) are the highest-ranking members of the Spanish nobility. They comprise nobles who hold the most important historical landed titles in Spain or its former colonies. Many such hereditary titles are held b ...

. After the death of the 1st Duchess of Franco, succession of the ducal title with accompanying dignity has been requested by her eldest daughter

María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

. Under Spanish nobiliary law, her eldest daughter Maria is first in line, but does not succeed automatically; with the application to the Crown and the issue of the Royal Letter of Succession, and after an announcement period of thirty days, succession only legally enters into force after a tax is paid. In 2018, the far-left Izquierda Unida party sent a letter to King Felipe VI asking that title of Duke or Duchess of Franco be repressed as a violation of Spain's Historical Memory Law but the power to make or unmake nobility resides solely in the Spanish monarch and is not covered by that law. The Dukedom was granted to the heir apparent, María del Carmen Martínez-Bordíu y Franco, the eldest daughter of the late Duchess, on the same year, as published in the ''Official State Gazette'' on 4 July 2018. The title was abolished on 21 October 2022, under the purview of the Democratic Memory Law.:

Dukes of Franco (1975–2022)

* María del Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco (1975–2017) * María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, 2nd Duchess of Franco (2018–2022)

References

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

Francoist Spain Noble titles created in 1975 Grandees of Spain 2022 disestablishments in Spain {{Spain-hist-stub