The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday the creation of the Commissioner for the celebration of ‘Spain in Freedom. 50 years’, which will fall to the historian Carmen Gustrán, and the Interministerial Commission that will be in charge of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of the dictator Francisco Franco. It has also left in the hands of the Royal House the possible participation of the emeritus king Juan Carlos in some of the events planned throughout the year for this reason.
“On November 20, 2025, it will be 50 years since the death of the dictator Francisco Franco. With 50 years of Spain in Freedom, the aim is to celebrate the conquest of freedoms and democracy that began with the Transition and the Constitution of 1978 and the great political and social advances and transformations experienced throughout those decades,” declared the Council of Ministers.
For this reason, the Government has set up the Inter-Ministerial Commission, attached to the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, which will be responsible for proposing actions and supporting the Commissioner for the celebration of ‘Spain in Freedom. 50 years’ within the scope of the General State Administration (AGE).
“The commemorative programme for the 50th anniversary includes various actions that involve the participation of all the ministerial departments and, to this end, it is considered necessary to set up an Inter-Ministerial Commission with the nature of a working group, which will guarantee the appropriate degree of ministerial coordination, based on the advice provided for this purpose by the Scientific Committee advising the Commissioner for the celebration, on the relevance and scientific quality of the activities that are programmed,” he added. Among the members of the Commission will be the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero.
In addition, the Commissioner, Carmen Gustrán, is an expert in contemporary Spain, has worked with various universities inside and outside Spain and has experience in cultural management with different administrations, such as the Madrid City Council or the Ministry of Culture during the presidency of the Government of Mariano Rajoy.
The events will begin this Wednesday at the Reina Sofía Museum with an event chaired by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, among other members of the Executive. The one who will not attend will be King Felipe VI for agenda reasons, but he will join “other events planned during the year”, such as “an institutional visit to the former concentration camps of Auschwitz and Mathausen and the event that will commemorate the important role that the monarchy played in the Transition”, indicated sources from Zarzuela.
For its part, Moncloa has assured that there is a total “harmony” with the Royal Family in this matter and the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, assured this Tuesday in the press conference after the Council of Ministers that Juan Carlos I could also participate in some of the planned events. “The Cabinet is in contact with the Royal Family and whatever we do we will agree on,” he said, without further additions.
The minister also recalled the progress achieved in recent decades in areas such as elections, freedom of expression, association and assembly and the rights of women and homosexuals, and advocated disclosing these facts objectively “so that we can celebrate the end of fear, which was what happened with the death of the dictator, and the beginning of hope, which was what was sown to achieve today this Spain of all, of democracy and freedom.”
The Popular Party has already announced that it will not participate in these official commemorations, considering them a strategy of the Government to “divert attention” from its legal problems, and has accused the Executive of promoting these events “unilaterally”.
