Spain and Franco
It is unsurprising that the Spanish government is opposing the independence of Catalonia because of the region’s major contribution to the nation. Catalonia makes up one-fifth of Spain’s economy, thus without it attached to the economy, Spain would suffer a significant decrease in their national income. 12 Franco’s motive in opposing Catalonian independence may have been completely different to those of today’s Spanish government. We must be wary not to exaggerate the similarities between the two periods, for each situation occurred with different circumstances. The actions of Franco are not being recreated to such an extreme extent. ‘ Ideologies don’t travel well over time . . . History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes, ’ which aptly describes the issue Spain is going through. 13 We must not offend those who lived through the horrors of Franco’s Spain, as most modern historians did not themselves endure these trauma on a personal level. Spain has tried to ‘forget’ the horrors of the past with the ‘Pact of Forgetting’ (1977) and the ‘Historical Memory Law’ (2007) which have attempted to remove some symbols of Francoism from the streets of Spain. Thus, there are signs that Spain is moving forward, yet perhaps for some, the shift is occurring too slowly and too late. Spain may be following a general trend of populism sweeping Europe at the moment, which might indicate that this undeniable rise in far-right politics is in fact due to more recent events, rather than a connection to Spain’s long dead dictator of the last century. Franco remains in the minds of the Spanish people. He has woven himself into the fabric of Spanish society which has, although not dominated Spain, certainly interfered and stirred up debates. The extent of his presence is indeed debatable. He is after all dead, and howmuch power can the dead really have over the living? Themultitude of symbols around Spain’s streets perhaps suggest only the laziness of the government to remove them. The rise of far-right wing extremism is prevalent across the world and it would be an exaggeration to state that this occurrence is a direct replication of the dictatorships of the 20th century. The violence today cannot be compared to the brutality of 1939-1975. But what is noteworthy is the similarities of Vox’s policies, as well as their far-right supporters, compared to Franco’s ideals and his fascist support base. George Santayana’s aphorism – ‘ those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it ’ – is a fearful concern in Spain. 14 The demographic of the Spanish people has changed and, although it would be remiss to draw extreme parallels between Franco’s dictatorship and the recent Spanish governments, there are undoubtedly many references to Franco that still haunt the streets of Spain today.
12 Here ’ s how bad economically a Spain-Catalonia split could really be. At https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/21/heres-how-bad-economically-a-spain-catalonia-split-could-really-be.html.
13 Simón, P. (2019) ‘Is Franco’s shadow fading?’ The Observer Special report: 23. 14 Santayana, G. (1905) The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress Volume 1. 284.
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