During the years that Spain was under the control of General Franco, Freemasonry was a "crime" and Masons were imprisoned for a term of years equal to the number of Masonic degrees possessed by the "guilty one."
I wonder how many people today, if that little detail of El Caudillo's policies were omitted, would say we "need someone like Franco".
Tyrants always try to stamp out Masonry. They don't want people thinking for themselves about the freedom of man.
Some people say that Franco started a persecution against the masons because previously he tried to enter and was blackballing....but I think that the real reason was the one that you say.....As a curious data, his brother was, in fact, a mason.