//
Photo: Catedrales e Iglesias/Cathedrals and Churches from Puebla de los Ángeles, Mexico, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This site hosts the world's largest free-standing Christian cross (visible from dozens of kilometres away), Franco′s tomb, and a memorial to Catholics (both on Franco's side and opponents) killed in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Construction was ordered by Franco and erected on rocks through the forced labour of many Republican prisoners of war. You'll need your own transport: the entrance gate is on the main highway to El Escorial, with frequent buses from Madrid, but then there's the 6 km park road through pine forest up to the memorial. The monument is not uncontroversial in 21st century Spain and there used to be pro-Franco demonstrations on November 20th, the anniversary of the death of Franco and Primo de Rivera (both buried here) until the "Historical Memory Law" of 2007 outlawed them. In October 2019 Franco's mortal remains were removed despite much controversy and efforts by Franco's heirs (both literal and figurative) to block the move. There are plans to turn the site into more of a "documentation center" akin to the former Nazi Party Rallying Grounds in Nuremberg, but as the site is owned by the Catholic Church, this has proven complicated. See 20th-century Spain for context.
The Valley of the Fallen officially the Valley of Cuelgamuros since 2022, is a Spanish memorial site in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives during the Spanish Civil War. Overlooking the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial near Madrid, the memorial was constructed by order of the Nationalist dictator Francisco Franco in 1940. Construction continued until 1958, with the site opening to the public the following year. Franco said that the monument was intended as a "national act of atonement" and reconciliation. The site served as Franco's burial place from his death in November 1975—despite it not being his intended burial site—until his exhumation on 24 October 2019, following a long and controversial legal process to remove all public glorification of his dictatorship.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
It was commissioned by Felipe (Philip) II as a mausoleum for his father Carlos V. The site when completed in 1584 included a basilica-church, monastery, royal household and library. Felipe II, his parents Carlos V and Empress Isabel of Portugal, and virtually all Spanish kings as well as all queens who reigned in their own right or gave birth to kings are buried in a royal mausoleum downstairs. After the planned burial of the late Juan de Borbon and his late wife (parents of king-emeritus Juan Carlos) there will not be any space left for future monarchs to be buried here. Highlights include: The Basilica, with two great cenotaphs by the high altar: for Felipe II and Emperor Carlos V. The Pantheon of Kings, below the Basilica, is a remarkable royal burial chamber. The Gallery of Battles commemorates battles from Felipe's military campaigns. The Chapter Houses hold paintings from Tintoretto, El Greco, Titian and others. El Greco's painting of "The Martyrdom of St. Maurice". The Library and its frescoed vaulted ceiling.
Philip's Saddle
This is a small granite platform in the Bosque de la Herrería, in the forest, some 4 km south of El Escorial, from where it's said Felipe II and his wife used to watch the construction of the Monastery. Offers excellent views of the mausoleum, the Sierra de Guadarrama, and the Madrid plains.