Stealing our future

How thousands of Spanish babies were secretly taken from their parents

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Long Lost Family Special: The Spanish Baby Scandal

Tuesday, 9pm, ITV1

In 2011, Spain was rocked by a headline-making news story alleging that, over several decades, thousands of newborn babies might have been taken from their parents and illegally placed with other families.

According to reports, the human trafficking had begun in the late 1930s under the regime of rightwing dictator General Franco, when babies were apparently removed by medics and the Church for financial gain, or because the parents including single mothers, and those opposed to General Franco were deemed 'unsuitable.

The children were then adopted or sold, and, in some cases, their birth relatives were falsely told they had died.