Spain’s culture ministry has begun to fulfil its promise to return more than 5,000 works of art that were taken by the Franco regime after restoring a painting seized by the dictatorship 84 years ago to its rightful owners.
In June, the ministry published an online list of more than 5,126 items plundered by the regime – including paintings, sculptures, jewellery, furniture and religious ornaments – to help people reclaim their family property almost a century after it was taken for safekeeping after the outbreak of the civil war.