Spanish town criticised for projecting giant pictures of Franco and Himmler

Municipal authorities in a central Spanish town have been criticised after projecting giant pictures of fascist dictator Francisco Franco and Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler on to the walls of a castle.

The town of Guadamur in Castilla-La Mancha projected the images on to the walls of the castle as part of an annual show on the town's Visigoth past, reported The Local.

They were supposed to illustrate a wartime episode in which half of the town's Visigoth treasures were taken to France as part of a pact between the Nazi collaborationist Vichy government and the Franco regime.

However, locals questioned the wisdom of beaming giant images of two of the 20th century's most notorious figures on to the castle. One Twitter user commented that it appeared as though the two were being depicted as heroes.

The left-wing populist Podemos party criticised authorities for showing the images, but in a recent incident arresting puppeteers in Madrid for "glorifying terrorism" after they put on a satirical show.

The local town hall apologised for its use of the images: "It was never the intention of the organizers, the documentary maker or collaborators to praise the people… or the actions of their governments."

"The town hall of Guadamur would like to apologize to those who were offended by any of the images shown," the statement continued.