Was Franco's Spain still nominally a monarchy during World War II, like Italy?
Short answerNo reigning monarch served alongside Franco. Restoration is discussed as part of the transition away from his rule and an attempt to unite the country.
NotesThe comparison with wartime Italy is rejected: Franco's Spain did not have a reigning monarch alongside its dictator. Royal restoration belongs to the transition away from Franco's rule. The political argument for restoration was that a monarchy could unite a country at risk of returning to the divisions of the 1930s. The claimed unifying effect concerns ideological divisions, with separatism left unresolved.