Nazis on the beach: How Spain’s Costa Blanca became a safe haven for SS officers after war

A new film reveals the hidden history of Nazis enjoying the high life while sheltered in Franco’s Spain, reports Graham Keeley

A scene from the ‘The Substitute’ that covers Nazis living in Spain under the Franco regime (Laia Lluch)

The Costa Blanca is today almost a second colony for British expatriates and tourists but a new film has revealed how this part of Spain was once the favoured refuge of Nazis hiding from the reach of law.

The Substitute tells the story of how after the Second World War former SS officers used Spain as their personal fiefdom, helped in no small measure by General Franco’s sympathetic regime.

Even after the Spanish dictator’s death in 1975, the Spanish secret service and police ensured that the country remained a safe haven for loyal followers of Adolf Hitler who were hunted by international prosecutors and Mossad, the Israeli secret service.