MADRID (AP) — Officials say work has begun on exhuming the remains of Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco from his grandiose mausoleum outside Madrid so he can be reburied in a small family crypt elsewhere.

The government-ordered, closed-door operation Thursday satisfies a long-standing demand of his many victims' relatives and others who suffered under his regime and were offended at the vainglorious burial place he constructed. The operation was broadcast live by Spain's main TV channels and media websites.

Franco's coffin is being extracted from under marble slabs and two tons of granite at the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum. Depending on the weather, it is being taken by helicopter or hearse to Mingorrubio cemetery, a 57-kilometer (35-mile) drive away.

Franco ruled Spain between 1939 and 1975, taking power after a three-year civil war he helped start against Spain's democratic government.