What do you think of the Francoist Spain?

[mitalit]

Especially between 1959-1975

[TheMaestro]

No opinion hermano

[gixajo]

It is the past, and it is part of our history.

I am bothered by the political use that is currently made by Spanish politicians and the media, in one sense or another.

[Alexandro]

Ahhhh, this is the sort of conversation that ruins family gatherings, often times beginning with the viejitos yelling something about "esto con Franco no pasaría", xD

To answer your question....Spain under fascism, after the civil war, was really quite a boring country in terms of the history. It was stable, grew economically, and wasn't very influential on an international level. It also didn't fit the criteria of being horrible, for most people. However, if we are to discuss the Francoist era, there are really two different periods you can divide it into.

The first can be defined as being from about 1939 to 1959. Devastated by the civil war and isolated by the international community after the end of WWII, Spain relied on policies of autarky to manage our economy. These were years of economic depression, black markets, hunger and mass amounts of migration to other countries.

Our situation began to improve with the Pact of Madrid in 1953, with Spain offering military bases in exchange of American aid. But, the most important changes happened around 1959, when Franco put technocrats in charge of the economy and the country joined the IMF and the World Bank. This led to the so called "Spanish Miracle", an economic boom in industrialization and, most importantly, tourism. The country prospered and the average quality of life improved significantly, at least until 1973.

Although, this said, even if the economy was prospering during this period, opposing the regime brought about fierce consequences. Like, both of my maternal grandparents served jail time at one point for striking at their workplace. However, if you toed the line, obeyed the laws and acknowledged the government's authority (like the vast majority of people) you were okay.

In general it was quite the conservative period in time, contraceptives and abortion were prohibited, homosexuality was considered a crime and homosexuals were jailed and sent to forced labor camps. Unions were forbidden and worker's rights dramatically cut. Attendance to mass was almost mandatory, propaganda was rampant and all sorts of local cultures and liberties repressed. There were also restrictions on what women could do, such as work. So, if you were a woman who really wanted a career, it was not such a great period of time for you. The upside of this was that the population grew at a fast and steady pace, whereas now we are having lots of issues with low birthrates and whatnot.

Ehhhh, in my opinion the period is ultimately a mixed bag, it set us back in many ways but there are also some positives and we are left with many things to learn from.

[gixajo]

Although, this said, even if the economy was prospering during this period, opposing the regime brought about fierce consequences. Like, both of my maternal grandparents served jail time at one point for striking at their workplace. .

When and where?

How many days were they in jail?

[Alexandro]

When and where?

How many days were they in jail?

I don't know too many details about it, just remember them mentioning it once in passing (they never liked to talk about the past too much, especially not the Franco era for whatever reason) and they are both passed away so cannot exactly ask them, xD. But, I just know they were communists at one point and part of underground opposition parties (they were living in Catalonia for some time in their youth and were part of PSUC). Maybe I'll ask my mom about it, she probably knows a bit more.

[Blondie]

Better than modern Spain.

[gixajo]

I don't know too many details about it, just remember them mentioning it once in passing (they never liked to talk about the past too much, especially not the Franco era for whatever reason) and they are both passed away so cannot exactly ask them, xD. But, I just know they were communists at one point and part of underground opposition parties (they were living in Catalonia for some time in their youth and were part of PSUC). Maybe I'll ask my mom about it, she probably knows a bit more.

But more or less at what times? Middle 70´s?

[mitalit]

Ahhhh, this is the sort of conversation that ruins family gatherings, often times beginning with the viejitos yelling something about "esto con Franco no pasaría", xD

To answer your question....Spain under fascism, after the civil war, was really quite a boring country in terms of the history. It was stable, grew economically, and wasn't very influential on an international level. It also didn't fit the criteria of being horrible, for most people. However, if we are to discuss the Francoist era, there are really two different periods you can divide it into.

The first can be defined as being from about 1939 to 1959. Devastated by the civil war and isolated by the international community after the end of WWII, Spain relied on policies of autarky to manage our economy. These were years of economic depression, black markets, hunger and mass amounts of migration to other countries.

Our situation began to improve with the Pact of Madrid in 1953, with Spain offering military bases in exchange of American aid. But, the most important changes happened around 1959, when Franco put technocrats in charge of the economy and the country joined the IMF and the World Bank. This led to the so called "Spanish Miracle", an economic boom in industrialization and, most importantly, tourism. The country prospered and the average quality of life improved significantly, at least until 1973.

Although, this said, even if the economy was prospering during this period, opposing the regime brought about fierce consequences. Like, both of my maternal grandparents served jail time at one point for striking at their workplace. However, if you toed the line, obeyed the laws and acknowledged the government's authority (like the vast majority of people) you were okay.

In general it was quite the conservative period in time, contraceptives and abortion were prohibited, homosexuality was considered a crime and homosexuals were jailed and sent to forced labor camps. Unions were forbidden and worker's rights dramatically cut. Attendance to mass was almost mandatory, propaganda was rampant and all sorts of local cultures and liberties repressed. There were also restrictions on what women could do, such as work. So, if you were a woman who really wanted a career, it was not such a great period of time for you. The upside of this was that the population grew at a fast and steady pace, whereas now we are having lots of issues with low birthrates and whatnot.

Ehhhh, in my opinion the period is ultimately a mixed bag, it set us back in many ways but there are also some positives and we are left with many things to learn from.

Very good answer, thank you.

[Alexandro]

But more or less at what times? Middle 70´s?

Yeah, like '60s - '70s, something related to the Comisión Obrera (?) or whatever, I don't remember, honestly.

[gixajo]

Yeah, like '60s - '70s, something related to the Comisión Obrera (?) or whatever, I don't remember, honestly.

Puedes consultar si hay registros de la DGS a su nombre, y solicitar copias en papel o digitales (pagando algo) a través del Ministerio de Cultura, en la subsección de "Memoria Histórica".

Ten en cuenta que practicamente toda la población viene recogida en el archivo de la DGS, ya que la DGS fue la que expedía el DNI, por lo que pueden aparecer varios registros a nombre de un familiar tuyo, y que ninguno de ellos tenga que ver con ningún tipo de infracción relacionada con actividades políticas que en esa época eran ilegales, sino simplemente relacionados con recolección de datos personales del Documento Nacional de Identidad, relativos a servicios sociales, al servicio militar o a cosas tan prosaicas como cambios de domicilio, de profesión o de estado civil.

La última vez que lo consulté yo, al menos pasaba eso, no sé si ahora mismo estará igual la cosa, supongo que sí.

[Zeno]

From what I've seen, it was a period of vast economic growth and social stability. Similar to our junta (which lasted for just 7 years, and inherited the previous momentum of vast economic growth, which was greater than Spain's).