Madrid (CNN) The remains of right-wing dictator General Francisco Franco can be exhumed, Spain's Supreme court ruled Tuesday, resolving an issue that has divided opinion for decades.

A long-awaited ruling gives the government a green light to remove Franco's remains from the Catholic basilica, the Valley of the Fallen, just outside Madrid.

The nationalist ruler was interred in the mausoleum -- which was partially built by political prisoners of his regime and is the site of a mass grave of Spanish Civil War victims -- soon after his death in 1975.

It has since become a draw for tourists and far-right sympathizers who rally at it on the anniversary of Franco's death on November 20.

"We are very proud of removing the remains of the dictator from the mausoleum 40 years later, complying with what was approved by the UN and the Spanish congress," Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Carmen Calvo, said Tuesday.

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