page_title: Carmen Polo, 1st Lady of Meirás
section_title: The Civil War and afterward
hierarchical_section_title: Carmen Polo, 1st Lady of Meirás / The Civil War and afterward
caption_attribution_description: Español: Título original: Visita de Francisco Franco y su esposa, Carmen Polo, en un acto religioso en la iglesia de Santa María (5/6) Localización: San Sebastián (Guipúzcoa)
context_page_description: María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés, 1st Lady of Meirás, Grandee of Spain was the wife of General and caudillo Francisco Franco.
  She played an important role in Francoist Spain, exerting major influence in the election of Carlos Arias Navarro and in censoring the press. She was, undoubtedly, the most influential woman in Francoist Spain. She was nicknamed as la Collares in Spain.
context_section_description: In July 1936, Polo and her daughter fled to Le Havre, France, on the German steamboat Waldi. They traveled under assumed names, fearing that Nenuca might be kidnapped. They waited in Le Havre for Antonio Barroso, who transported them to Bayonne, to the house of his former governess Claverie. At the end of September, Franco sent his cousin and confidant, Salgado-Araujo, to find them.
  In September 1936 Franco was chosen and appointed "Generalísimo" and head of state by the National Defense Board (Junta de Defensa Nacional). Accordingly, Carmen Polo became known as the first lady of Spain. She was generally referred to simply as "La Señora". Her glamorous persona became part of Franco's image. It is rumored that Jose Antonio de Sangróniz, Franco's chief diplomat, was forced to cancel a reception before the Junta de Burgos ("Military Junta of Burgos", named after the town where it was formed) because Polo did not have suitable clothes for the occasion. She would never have this problem again. Beginning in 1936, she began to build up a large collection of hats, dresses, and pearl necklaces, the latter becoming her trademark.
caption: Carmen Polo and her husband in San Sebastián in 1941.
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