I embark on a modern pilgrimage to Spain in search of my grandfather, Leopoldo Savignac Battistini– because my mum wanted me to, and because neither of us knew him. Mum met him only once when she was 8 years old. He was a photographer from Venezuela who emigrated to Spain and worked there 1909-1948. In 1939 he takes a portrait photograph of General Franco. The shock of this discovery forces me to re-think moments from my adolescence and my relationship with my mum.

The journey begins at my dad’s death. It is this loss of the last of my immediate family which has triggered greater urgency. It gives me space and time to reflect. The story is about the journey itself, my observations, and discoveries. It touches on my grandfather’s link to Franco during the Spanish Civil War. It weaves memoir, travel writing and cultural history to explore ideas of place and home, of photography and memory.