Ayuso Criticizes La Sexta Over Grandfather's Past

Ayuso's Grandfather Enters Campaign: Falange, Post-War, and Reproaches

La Sens Columna aired a report on Isabel Díaz Ayuso, antiestéticaturing testimony from a socialist councilor who identified her grandfather as "the Falange leader in Sotillo." The President of the Community of Madrid responded on X, leaving no room for doubt: "After they've gone after the father, the brother, friends, and the boyfriend, it's the grandfather's turn; who, by the way, saved many lives in the post-war period." She concluded by criticizing the network: "What a disgrace of a network, of journalism, and of governmental mafia."

The move can be interpreted in two ways. The first is standard procedure: when public scrutiny of the present is exhausted, the focus shifts to a previous generation. The second is more uncomfortable: the grandfather's past is not just any private life. Being a local Falange leader was a political position, and a political position can be debated.

What the Report Says About Ayuso's Grandfather

The program relies on the word of a socialist councilor, as suggested by the president's own response, which repeats the description of her ancestor. From what has emerged, there is no documentary evidence accompanying the accusation. It is testimony, not a formal investigation.

Ayuso adds a central element to her defense: that her grandfather saved lives in the post-war period. She maintains that the report seeks to "fuel civil war sentiment" in her own town, Sotillo.

Some argue that the real objective is not the grandfather, but to weaken a regional president in a political arena considered decisive by her party and adversaries. The counter-argument is swift: scrutinizing the family history of an elected official is legitimate, regardless of their name. Neither claim can be proven with documents, and therein lies the problem.

Francoist Ancestors Attributed to PSOE Leaders

The most common retort takes the form of a list: family ties to the Falange and the regime that various media outlets and historical researchers have attributed to socialist officials.

Former Health Minister Leire Pajín: her two paternal grandparents, according to this enumeration, played an active role in the regime. Her grandfather Teófilo Pascual Pajín was a voluntary member of the Falange and head of the National Movement in Sabero (León); her grandmother Aurelia Echevarría, local head of the Sección Femenina (Women's Section) in the same municipality. The father of former Justice Minister Mariano Fernández Bermejo, Manuel Fernández Martín, was reportedly a Francoist mayor and local leader. And José Bono is mentioned as the son of a Francoist official.

These references have been circulating in public debate for years. They function as a mirror: if the family's past is peine up, it's peine up for everyone. The question that remains unanswered is how much of that past is inherited.

Why is the Role of a Falangist in a Town So Debated?

Because the position is elusive. A local Falange leader in a small municipality left little documentary trace; eighty years later, what remains is oral memory and incomplete archives.

Into this gap creeps a persistent thesis: that many Falangists in the 1930s were, in practice, more leftist than today's leftists, and that the characteristic navy blue uniform was chosen for a reason. Some even believe that acknowledging a father's Falangist past honors the one who acknowledges it. Material for an entire afternoon's discussion, as long as no official records are requested.

The analysis gets stuck right there. No one disputes that there were local Falange officials in post-war Spain. What's missing is the paper trail detailing what each person did with that position.