Life à la mode: Valle de los Caidos

Near El Escorial is Valle de los Caidos, the controversial burial site of Francisco Franco, the dictator of Spain for nearly 40 years. He originally constructed the monumental basilica as a form of reconciliation for the civil war, with thousands of soldiers from both sides buried in the crypts (somewhere to the tune of 30,000 according to this website). Franco never intended to be buried here, but, against the wishes expressed in his will, his body was moved here some time after his death. It has now become even more controversial than it would've been (it was built with slave labor, so there would still be plenty to talk about even if he wasn't buried there). As a pseudo-Fascist leader, many are concerned that leaving him in the monument endorses extremist ideas and movements. Nobody can agree, however, on where to move the body if they did decide to exhume his remains, as the family plot where he wished to be buried is now under different ownership.
All that aside though, the monument is incredible

The massive stone cross is over 500 feet tall, and one of the largest in the world. The entire church is hewn out of the mountain, and the dimensions make it larger than St Peter's Basilica (to avoid competition with the Vatican, a very large entryway was left unconsecrated).

A beautiful Pieta sculpture crowns the entrance

You can't take any pictures inside the basilica, but it's spooky (I've included a couple from google). There are massive 25 foot tall statues of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. Michael holds a massive sword, Raphael a fish and traveler's staff, Gabriel some flowers. Uriel is the spookiest-- according to tradition he is the angel that went through Egypt and killed the firstborn son in any house without sheep's blood on the door.