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=== Politics and religion ===
[[File:Salvador Dali NYWTS.jpg|thumb|upright|Dalí in the 1960s, sporting his characteristic flamboyant moustache, holding his pet ocelot, Babou]]
As a youth, Dalí identified as as communist, anti-monarchist and anti-clerical<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 64–67, 83–84</ref> and in 1924 he was briefly imprisoned by the [[Miguel Primo de Rivera|Primo de Rivera dictatorship]] as a person "intensely liable to cause public disorder".<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 113–14</ref> When Dalí officially joined the Surrealist group in 1929 his political activism initially intensified. In 1931, he became involved in the [[Workers and Peasants' Bloc|Workers' and Peasants' Front]], delivering lectures at meetings and contributing to their party journal.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 287–89</ref> However, as political divisions within the Surrealist group grew, Dalí soon developed a more apolitical stance, refusing to publicly denounce fascism. In 1934, [[André Breton]] accused him of being sympathetic to Hitler and Dalí narrowly avoided being expelled from the group.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 320–25</ref> In 1935 Dalí wrote a letter to Breton suggesting that non -white races should be enslaved.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/01/salvador-dali-wanted-enslave-non-white-races-create-new-sadistic/|title=Salvador Dali wanted to enslave non-white races and create new 'sadistic' religion, letter reveals|first=James|last=Badcock|date=1 September 2022|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Dalí avoided taking a public stand for or against the Republic.<ref name=":4" /> However, immediately after Franco's victory in 1939, Dalí praised Catholicism and the Falange and was expelled from the Surrealist group.<ref name=":5" />
After Dalí's return to his native Catalonia in 1948, he publicly supported Franco's regime and announced his return to the Catholic faith.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997), pp. 448, 465–66</ref> Dalí was granted an audience with Pope Pius XII in 1949 and with [[Pope John XXIII]] in 1959. He had official meetings with General Franco in June 1956, October 1968, and May 1974.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 486, 543, 553</ref> In 1968, Dalí stated that on Franco's death there should be no return to democracy and Spain should become an absolute monarchy.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 525–27</ref> In September 1975, Dalí publicly supported Franco's decision to execute three alleged Basque terrorists and repeated his support for an absolute monarchy, adding: "Personally, I'm against freedom; I'm for the Holy Inquisition." In the following days, he fled to New York after his home in Port Lligat was stoned and he had received numerous death threats.<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) pp. 560–62</ref> When King Juan Carlos visited the ailing Dalí in August 1981, Dalí told him: "I have always been an anarchist and a monarchist."<ref>Gibson, Ian (1997) p. 587</ref>
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