Manuel Fraga, the last remaining major link between contemporary Spanish politics and the 1939-75 dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, died overnight in Madrid at age 89.

Fraga reportedly died of heart failure after a lung infection, sources close to his family said.

He served as information and tourism minister under Franco before the dictator's death in 1975, after which he helped draft Spain's democratic constitution, which was passed in 1978.

Most ministers in Franco's government retired from politics after the return to democracy, but Fraga continued, becoming one of the founders of the Popular Alliance, predecessor of the ruling conservative Popular Party.

He is credited with pushing Franco loyalists toward the political center during the party's development. To members of the Spanish left, he was a lingering symbol of the brutal right-wing regime that kept Spain isolated for decades.

Dictatorship to democracy

Fraga also faced criticism for the way he governed his native region of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, from 1990 to 2005. Critics say he ruled with the dictatorial tendencies of Franco, taking advantage of a conservative, quid-pro-quo political culture to stay in power.

Supporters say as tourism minister under Franco, he worked to open up Spain to the rest of the world and bring in foreign money. He also oversaw Galicia's transformation from one of Spain's poorest regions to one with modern roads, bridges and other infrastructure - much of it funded by the European Union. And he worked to promote the region's language and culture, strictly suppressed during the four decades of dictatorship.

After losing an election in Galicia in 2005, he switched over to represent the region in the Spanish senate until retiring for health reasons in September 2011.

Speaking of his years under Franco at a press luncheon in 2001, Fraga was unapologetic, saying: "One cannot choose the period of history in which one lives."

Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, AP dpa)
Editor: Nancy Isenson