Francisco Franco Salgado-Araujo, known familiarly as Pacón (July 16, 1890 May 1, 1975), was a Spanish military officer, first cousin and collaborator of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco Bahamonde. During the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent Franco dictatorship he remained at his cousin's side, being recognized as one of his closest collaborators on a personal level.BOE No. 314 (December 31, 1975)

Military career and personal life In 1908, Franco Salgado-Araujo entered the Toledo Infantry Academy whose colonel director was José Villalba Riquelme, and in 1912, a year after being named Second Lieutenant, he was sent to the Spanish Morocco, where he participated in the Rif War. Salgado-Araujo quickly became known for his affinity with his cousin, Francisco Franco, which made him a faithful collaborator in the field. He would collaborate especially with him during the preparation of the July 1936 coup d'état. In fact, he would accompany him during the flight from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Tetouan aboard the Dragon Rapide. During the Spanish Civil War he continued at his side, especially when Franco became Head of State and leader of the rebel side, and after the establishment of the Franco dictatorship he was appointed second in command of the Military Household of Francisco Franco.BOE No. 142 (May 22, 1949) Finally, in 1954 he became head of Franco's Military Household,BOE No. 68 (March 9, 1954) a position he would leave on August 7, 1956, when he was replaced by General Antonio Barroso Sánchez-Guerra.BOE No. 220 (July 7, 1956) In the military field, in 1945 he was promoted to Major General and rewarded with the Grand Cross of the Order of San Hermenegildo.BOE No. 290 (October 17, 1945) In April 1950 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 11th Division,BOE No. 102 (April 12, 1950) garrisoned in Madrid, a position he would hold for almost three years until he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed Captain General of the V Military Region (Zaragoza) and in turn of the Army Corps of Aragon V.BOE No. 39 (February 8, 1953) He was married twice, first to María Luisa Revilla VidalMovimiento nobiliario 1931-1940, p. 2 and the second to María del Pilar de la Rocha Nogués.La Vanguardia (Friday, March 26, 1954), p. 3 After his death, two posthumous works were published: "My Private Conversations with Franco" (1976) and "My Life with Franco" (1977). For historian Ricardo de la Cierva, "the conversations between the two Franco cousins are authentic and true, since Franco Salgado's many virtues do not include a great imagination."El País: The Revenge of the Valet. (October 10, 1976) Regarding Private Conversations with Franco, De la Cierva points out that Franco Salgado-Araujo wrote this work out of deep resentment toward his cousin and provided numerous details about the business dealings of all those who belonged to Franco's circle. His comments about Franco's wife, Carmen Polo, also reveal a strong personal conflict:

Salgado-Araujo's work provided historians with new data and a new perspective for their study of Franco. An example of this is pointed out by Paul Preston, with the case of the Bombings of Barcelona in March 1938: These had been ordered directly by Benito Mussolini, although Franco said at the time that they had occurred without his knowledge.Hugh Thomas (1985); p. 866 In this regard, Salgado-Araujo indicated that in 1967 Franco had told him that "all bombings were always carried out by special decision of the Spanish command."Paul Preston (1994); pp. 379-380 In other passages, Salgado-Araujo commented on the Franco family's business dealings and the "caudillo" himself:

Awards Mehdauía Order (1939).BOE No. 96, (April 6, 1939) Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy (1939).BOE No. 154, (June 3, 1939) Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit (1945).BOE No. 6, (January 6, 1945) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of San Hermenegildo (1945).BOE No. 290, (October 17, 1945)

References