Francisco Franco, what a guy...

Since my arrival in Jaén, I have found that I thoroughly enjoy talking to people about social issues, whether it is history, tradition, or modern culture… in any and every form. Issues that creep into my conversations with Spaniards are national identity (or a lack of identifying with the nation), socialism, health care, immigration and Franco (the fascist dictator that ruled Spain for a whopping 40 years). I guess maybe I should have majored in social-science or history or something. I find all of these topics fascinating and I learn endless amounts of interesting things when I talk to people about it. I think today I’ll focus on my conversations with Spaniards on Franco. I’ll leave other themes for another day.

After a short but bloody civil war between the fascist “Nationalists” and the democratic/communist “Republicans” from 1936-1939, nationalist Francisco Franco took power of Spain. Franco was, for the next 40 years, a dictator: a fascist, nationalist, Catholic, military general who ruled until his death in 1975. After the civil war the Nationalist government started their revenge upon former Republicans… This included Republicans themselves, mere sympathizers to the Republicans, or even family members or descendants of Republicans. (Here, Republicans are liberal.) Now, this punishment came in many forms socially, both from the ruling fascists and between the Spanish people. Many “Republicans” couldn’t find a job because employers were either too afraid to hire them because of possible consequences, or didn’t want to hire them simply because of their past political views. Problems also existed with the police, as many “Republicans” were jailed or forced into exile. The Catholic Church played a pretty large role in the power of Franco both during and after the war as well, as there was no separation between Church and State. It is said that the Church ran orphanages during Franco’s rule where children of “Republicans” were sequestered and raised there, often suffering physical and sexual abuse. Your past political association also affected your food rationings. A republican past meant you were hungry. One night my friend Tomás commented that his Grandpa always eats his baguette bread dipped in wine, because not too long ago, all there was to eat was bread and wine. Women lost all the rights they were previously guaranteed in the more modern 1931 constitution. All political parties and political activism were outlawed during Franco. It was illegal to speak any language other than Spanish, which was specifically oppressive to the bilingual regions. In Catalonia they speak Catalan, in Galicia, Gallego and in Basque Country, Basque. There was even a law saying that no more than three people could talk in a group on the street at once. If there were four, you were yelled at and threatened by the police. It seems the sum of the story is: if your family was Republican, you suffered during Franco’s rule. If you were Nationalist or neutral, you lived just fine during his rule.

Upon his death in 1975, Spain made a pretty quick transition to democracy. At the time there was a really strange social-political agreement between the people of Spain and the government to “forget it” in order to move on quickly to democracy. Unlike the cultural-historical documentation on Nazi Germany and the Dirty War in Argentina, the Spanish Civil War and Dictatorship is still left unspoken within the family and the school system and not as well documented or well-known because of his unofficial pact of silence. It wasn’t until 2007 that the Spanish government formally denounced Franco and his regime. Along with denouncing the regime, the government promised to help dig up mass graves and put names to the thousands of unidentified bodies buried around Spain during the Civil War and the post-war times. I say “help” because the process is currently being carried out mostly by college student volunteers.

There were, and still are, many supporters of Franco. Franco and the Catholic Church worked together as a ruling entity during the dictatorship, and therefore religious people lived quite comfortably during the dictatorship. Throughout numerous weekend stops to the bar down the road with Tio Tony (“Uncle Tony,” Manuel’s uncle), I have discovered that he is one of many Franco supporters. He says Franco lifted up Spain, and even sports a photo of Franco on his cell. I read in a BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5192228.stm) that 50% of Spaniards admit they haven’t spoken about Franco in the home, and 35% say they haven’t talked about it at school. When talking to teachers at my school, they admit that Franco and the civil war is not studied, and if it is studied, it’s a very brief overview that doesn’t speak of the horrors of the war or of the fascist regime.

Now, why is it that Franco remains unspoken, not studied, and not dealt with personally or within the Spanish family? There are honestly thousands of factors that would contribute to this social silence but I think there are still lots of living supporters of Franco and his ideology, which makes it a touchy subject to teach in school and to talk about within the family. Also, I'd kind of assume there is still a strange after-affect of fear lingering in society. Forty years is a long dictatorship and it affected a lot of people negatively while it affected others positively. Also, the “forget it” law passed after Franco died has held strong…. I am super curious to see if this unspoken war will soon appear in textbooks and museums and other public places. If it does, it will be fascinating to see how it is spoken about and what will be considered the "official" text-book history of what happened.

The most interesting and gossipy of all? Hitler was, rumor has it, once quoted calling Franco "crazy."