Editing List of Spanish monarchs (section)

==Dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–1975)==
On 1 October 1936, General [[Francisco Franco]] was proclaimed "Leader of Spain" ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Caudillo de España'') in the parts of Spain controlled by the Nationalists (''nacionales'') after the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out. At the end of the war, on 1 April 1939, Franco took control of the whole of Spain, ending the Second Republic. The 36-year period that followed would be officially called the '''''Estado Español''''', or the Spanish State. Although Franco proclaimed the restoration of the monarchy in 1947, he did not allow the pretender, [[Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona|Juan, Count of Barcelona]], to take the throne. Instead, 22 years later, in 1969, he declared as his successor [[Juan Carlos I of Spain|Juan Carlos]], Prince of Spain and son of the Count of Barcelona. This succession took place upon Franco's death in 1975, when Juan Carlos became King of Spain. A three-year transition to democracy followed during which the apparatus of the Franco government was gently dismantled and preparations for a new system, from 1978, were laid.