General Francisco Franco seized control of Spain after winning the country's bloody Civil War and remained in power for nearly 40 years.

His death in November 1975 followed a long illness.

Franco was mourned by millions of conservative Spaniards, but those on the left celebrated the demise of a fascist who had once been an ally of Hitler and Mussolini.

Witness speaks to Jose Antonio Martinez Soler, a young Spanish journalist at the time.

Witness is a World Service programme of the stories of our times told by the people who were there.