After celebrating Mass last month, congregants here at the Valle de los Caídos basilica walked to the back of the altar to pay homage to Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who is buried here.

They stood in silence before the tomb. A handful made a fascist salute. Some bent down to touch the stone slab, which is engraved with Franco’s name and was covered with two bouquets of flowers. One person tried to take a photograph — only to be told off by a security guard.

“Franco was a dictator, but a good one,” said Estela Tapias, who attended the Mass with her husband and two children. “I really don’t understand why these Communists want to take him out.”