Around 150 supporters of the late General Francisco Franco have laid flowers and prayed by his tomb in the Valley of the Fallen complex to mark 43 years since the Spanish dictator’s death.

Franco was interred in the mausoleum northwest of Madrid three days after he died on November 20 1975.

Some 34,000 people from both sides of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) are also buried there, most of them never identified.

Spain Franco Anniversary
The Valley of the Fallen monument near El Escorial (Manu Fernandez/AP)

Tuesday’s commemoration was closely watched by Civil Guard officers who were on patrol to stop any pro-dictatorship propaganda.

A man carrying an illegal Franco regime flag was escorted from the grounds.

Plans by the Socialist-led government to exhume Franco from the site have been met with fierce opposition from the late dictator’s heirs.