Well before the Spanish Civil War, during the reign of Alfonso XIII, both brothers were acclaimed as national heroes in Spain; however, the two had strongly differing political views.

Throughout the Spanish-speaking world the Spanish aviators were glamorously acclaimed, particularly in Argentina and Spain where thousands gathered at Plaza de Colón in Madrid.

His tenure lasted 2 months; in June 1931 he was dismissed in wake of a Tablada affair, an unclear episode which gave rise to suspicion that Franco was involved in a revolutionary plot in Andalusia.

His receipt of the command in Majorca was "received very badly" by his fellow aviators,[1] who resented that Ramón, a Freemason who had been dismissed, had been promoted over officers with war merits.

Ramón Franco was killed in an air accident on 28 October 1938, when his seaplane, a CANT Z.506, crashed off Pollença, near the coast of Majorca, while attempting to bomb Republican-controlled Valencia.

[2] According to his sister, he was murdered by Freemasons who loaded bricks and mortar aboard his plane because he wanted to publish an anti-Masonic book called La burla del grado 33.