<P> The Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: Abadía Benedictina de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos), on the other side of the mountain, houses priests who say perpetual Masses for the repose of the fallen of the Spanish Civil War and later wars and peacekeeping missions fought by the Royal Spanish Army . The abbey ranks as a Royal Monastery . </P> <P> The valley that contains the monument, preserved as a national park, is located 10 km northeast of the royal site of El Escorial, northwest of Madrid . Beneath the valley floor lie the remains of 40,000 people, whose names are accounted for in the monument's register . The valley contains both Nationalist and Republican graves . </P> <P> In 1975, after Francisco Franco's death, the site was designated by the interim Government, assured by Prince Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Carlos Arias Navarro, as the burial place for Franco . According to his family, Franco did not want to be buried in the Valley, but in the city of Madrid . Nonetheless, the family agreed to the interim Government's request to bury him in the Valley, and has stood by the decision . </P> <P> Before his death, nobody had expected that Franco would be buried in the Valley . Moreover, the grave had to be excavated and prepared within two days, forcing last minute changes in the plumbing system of the Basilica . Unlike the fallen of the Civil War who were laid to rest in the valley exterior to the basilica, Franco was buried inside the church . His grave is marked by a simple tombstone engraved with just his Christian name and first surname, on the choir side of the main high altar (between the altar and the apse of the Church; behind the altar, from the perspective of a person standing at the main door). </P>

Who is buried at valle de los caidos