By David Latona

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s leftist government paid homage on Friday to victims of the country’s civil war and the ensuing four-decade rule of General Francisco Franco, ahead of the 50th anniversary of his death.

Franco rose to power through a coup in July 1936 against the democratically elected Republican government, followed by the three-year war won by his army.

Government estimates say around 114,000 civilians disappeared, presumably killed by Franco’s forces, during the war and his subsequent rule.

At an event titled “Memory Is Democracy”, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez thanked those who fought for a democratic Spain.

“It was necessary to dismantle an atrocious dictatorship imposed by force of arms, sustained by repression, and which stole the most basic rights and fr

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