Spain revokes award from Franco-era psychiatrist over 'red gene' and baby theft
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Friday that the government will revoke the Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Sanidad from Antonio Vallejo Nájera, the Franco-era psychiatrist whose pseudoscientific theories were used to justify the theft of thousands of Republican babies.
The decision
The Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, announced on 3 July 2026 that it will begin the process to withdraw the Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Sanidad awarded posthumously to Antonio Vallejo Nájera. The move will be formalised at the next Council of Ministers, scheduled for 7 July, through a royal decree. The Health Ministry stated that the distinction is incompatible with the democratic values that now underpin the public health system.
No democracy can continue to honour someone who disguised their theories as science to justify hatred, repression and inequality.
The 'Spanish Mengele' and the hunt for the 'red gene'
Vallejo Nájera, often referred to as the "Spanish Mengele", was a military psychiatrist closely tied to the ideological apparatus of Francisco Franco's dictatorship. He pursued a nonexistent "red gene" that he believed caused the decay of the Hispanic race. To prove his theories, he subjected dozens of female Republican prisoners in Málaga and International Brigades detainees in Burgos to psychiatric experiments and torture. His work classed those who defended social and political equality as mentally inferior. Women militants were labelled as having "atrophied intelligence" and their only purpose was to bear children for the fatherland. These ideas were later used to build a scientific veneer for the regime's repression.
Theft of babies and systematic repression
One of the most enduring legacies of Vallejo Nájera's theories was their role in justifying the systematic theft of thousands of babies from Republican families during the Franco era. The aim was to prevent the supposed ideological degeneration of the children by severing them from their parents. Health Minister Mónica García recalled that his ideas served as the ideological basis for some of the gravest crimes of the dictatorship.
His ideas served as the ideological basis for some of the most serious crimes of Francoism, such as the systematic removal of thousands of children from Republican families for their political and moral re-education.
Democratic memory and the legal framework
The decision is taken under Spain's 2022 Law of Democratic Memory, which requires public administrations to review and revoke honours that glorify the Civil War and the dictatorship or were awarded for service in the repressive apparatus. Since its entry into force, honours have been removed from figures such as Antonio González Pacheco, known as "Billy the Kid", a police officer accused of torture during the Franco regime. Pedro Sánchez stressed that a state medal is not a mere trophy, but a public recognition of a trajectory, merits and values. The withdrawal is presented as an act of memory, justice and reparation, and a reaffirmation of democratic and human rights values in modern Spain.
How is it possible that in 2026 a man who claimed women had atrophied intelligence and their only mission was to have children for the fatherland still holds one of the highest state distinctions?
Rejection of the psychiatric legacy
The Ministry of Health and current mental health leaders emphasize that Vallejo Nájera's biological, stigmatising and exclusionary views are incompatible with today's human-rights-based model of mental healthcare. The current model is grounded in autonomy, inclusion and respect for diversity, in stark contrast to his use of psychiatry as a tool of persecution and social control.
