Spain: Franco statue torn down

MADRID, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A statue of Spain's longtime former dictator Francisco Franco was torn down from a square in the northern city of Santander.

The Franco statue there was one of the last of the dictator, who was one of Europe's longest-reigning fascist rulers. He was the de facto ruler of Spain from 1936 till his death in 1975.

The government of Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2007 passed a law saying all remembrances of Franco on public grounds and buildings be removed.

Hundreds of Franco supporters protested the removal of the statue, El Pais reported Friday.