Remains of Francisco Franco to be exhumed on Thursday

Dictator's remains will be reinterred in mausoleum near Madrid with those of his widow

The remains of Francisco Franco will finally be exhumed from the Valley of the Fallen and reinterred with those of his widow in the family mausoleum near Madrid on Thursday, the Spanish government has announced.

Gen Franco's body has been in the huge state monument 40 miles (64km) from the Spanish capital since his death in 1975. Many Spaniards feel his pride of place in the basilica, which is surmounted by a towering 150-metre (490ft) cross, glorifies the man and his dictatorship rather than serving to commemorate the 500,000 people who died during the Spanish civil war.