<P> The Valle de los Caídos ( Spanish pronunciation : ( ˈbaʎe ðe los kaˈiðos ) , `` Valley of the Fallen '' ) is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial , erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama , near Madrid , conceived by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to honour and bury those who died in the Spanish Civil War . Franco claimed that the monument was meant to be a `` national act of atonement '' and reconciliation . The Valley of the Fallen , as a surviving monument of Franco 's rule , and its Catholic basilica remain controversial , in part since 10 % of the construction workforce consisted of convicts , some of whom were Spanish Republican political prisoners . </P>
who is buried at the valley of the fallen
those who died in the Spanish Civil War