Francoist Spain

Spanish State
*Estado Español*
Spanish State Estado Español
1936–1975
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Una, Grande y Libre; ("One, Great and Free"); Plus Ultra; ("Further Beyond")
	Anthem: Marcha Granadera; ("Grenadier March");
	Territories and colonies of the Spanish State: Spain, Ifni, Western Sahara and Guinea; Protectorate in Morocco; Tangier International Zone;
Capital and largest city	Madrid
Official languages	Spanish
Religion	Catholicism (official, under the doctrine of National Catholicism)
Demonym	Spanish, Spaniard
Government	Unitary one-party dictatorship de jure monarchy after 1947;
Head of state
• 1936–1975	Francisco Franco
• 1975	Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel
Prime Minister
• 1938–1973	Francisco Franco
• 1973	Luis Carrero Blanco
• 1973	Torcuato Fernández-Miranda (acting)
• 1973–1975	Carlos Arias Navarro
Prince
• 1969–1975	Juan Carlos de Borbón
Legislature	None (rule by decree, until 1942); Cortes Españolas (since 1942)
Historical era	Interwar period; World War II; Cold War;
• Civil War	17 July 1936
• Francisco Franco's rule started	1 October 1936
• Nationalist victory	1 April 1939
• Succession law	6 July 1947
• Organic Law	1 January 1967
• Death of Francisco Franco	20 November 1975
• Regency Council administration	20–22 November 1975
• Proclamation of King Juan Carlos I	22 November 1975
Area
1940	856,045 km2 (330,521 sq mi)
Population
• 1940	25,877,971
Currency	Spanish peseta
Calling code	+34
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Nationalist zone
	Second Spanish Republic
	Spanish West Africa
	Spanish Territories on the Gulf of Guinea
Spanish transition to democracy
Kingdom of Morocco
Equatorial Guinea

Francoist Spain (Spanish: España franquista), also known as Nationalist Spain, Falangist Spain, the Franco regime, or the Franco dictatorship, officially the Spanish State (Estado Español), was a state established in Nationalist-held territories of Spain ruled by Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939 and then comprising the whole of Spain from 1939 until Franco's death in 1975.

The regime emerged from the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War and developed into a dictatorship centred on Franco and the institutions of the FET y de las JONS/Movimiento Nacional. Historians generally describe Francoist Spain as a dictatorial regime with fascist or para-fascist features in terms of functioning and ideology, especially during the first phase called the "First Francoism", during which Spain is characterized as a semi-fascist or straightly fascist and totalitarian or quasi-totalitarian regime, while afterwards it moved in a less fascist and "more conventionally authoritarian" direction. It has also been described as Catholic corporatism.

During the Second World War, Spain remained formally non-belligerent or neutral, though the regime was supportive of the Axis powers. After a period of postwar isolation and autarky, the regime shifted in the 1950s toward economic liberalization and technocratic government. Following Franco's death in 1975, Spain entered the Spanish transition to democracy.