Hundreds attend funeral mass for ex-Franco minister

Hundreds attended Saturday a public funeral mass for Manuel Fraga, the last major survivor from the Franco dictatorship, including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and other leaders of the Popular Party Fraga founded. Fraga, who died on Sunday at the age of 89, straddled Spain's historic 1977 transition from dictatorship to democracy, serving in government both during and after the rule of General Francisco Franco and helping to shape the modern Spanish right. During the service in the cathedral in the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela in Fraga's native Galicia, Archbishop Julian Barrio hailed him as someone who had defended "the great values of Western civilisation in Europe." A giant screen was set up in the square outside the cathedral for those who were unable to find room inside to follow the service. After the mass highlights of his career were shown on the screen, including his 1966 dip in the Mediterranean with the then US ambassador, in a propaganda stunt to reassure the public over nuclear pollution after unexploded US atom bombs landed accidentally nearby. Rajoy, a native of Galicia like both Fraga and Franco, was accompanied by his wife and Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, Health Minister Ana Mato and Infrastructure Minister Ana Pastor. Also present was the leader of the opposition Socialist Party in Galicia, Manuel Pachi Vazquez, who said he wanted to show his respect for someone who had headed the regional council from 1990 to 2005. Fraga was buried Tuesday at Perbes, on Spain's northeast coast near Coruna, in a private ceremony attended by former conservative prime minister Jose Maria Aznar. Born November 23, 1922, Manuel Fraga Iribarne was one of the "fathers of the constitution" that sealed the transition in 1977, and a founding member of the conservative Popular Party which returned to power in November under Rajoy. Rising through various posts under Franco, he served in the 1960s as minister for information -- the chief censor, and the bane of journalists -- and for tourism, which he helped make Spain's biggest industry at the time. He also served as Spain's ambassador to London from 1973 until Franco's death in 1975, and as interior minister immediately after it. He continued in politics as a senator for Galicia up until September 2011, when he retired because of his declining health.