What was daily life like in fascist Spain?

by Unkn0wn_Ace
DonHilarion

I think you should ask a more excise question. Life under francoism would vary depending on the time period, social class, gender, age, sexual orientation, regional and national identity, side choosen by oneself or one's family during the war, ideology(or lack of) and place.

Generally speaking, francoism can be divided in periods.

A person living in 1943 would live under a regime that leaded politically towards the Axis Powers and was engaged on attempt of political eradication of any form of remaining opposition. Due to isolement and the world war, hunger was a very true threat when not a reality, and the autartik economical policies hampering the reconstruction if the country and economical growth. The economy remained heavily un modernized, besides the destruction caused by the war, agriculture and rural involved still a big chunk of the population. Catholic morality was imposed by the force, smashing the social advances made in the previous decades regarding sexual freedom, non religious education and gender equality. The future seemed gloomy and hopeless, with the deep scars of the Civil War still bleeding.

An Spaniard living in 1973 would live in a country where the oposition to the regime, led by industrial workers, students and the so called "red priests" would show defiantly and regularly in the streets and where an armed group was about to blow up the car of the President of the Government and intended successor to Franco, Admiral Carrero Blanco. Franco was an old man, the regime crumbled at the same rate that the dictator's health. Spain was firmly aligned with the USA in the Cold War. European tourists, and more particularly Nordic tourists, besides Spanish emigrees who had gone to work in richer European countries, brought new and old ideas from away. Ideas about sexual liberation, personal freedom, democracy, fecent public services and infrastructure, higher life standards and European integration. The economy was trying to open to the world and was driven by the industtry, banking, tourism and construction, with a progressive process of rural exodus towards the cities. Some villages got deserted for ever. Some small towns near the big cities saw their population multiply by a factor of 10 or 15 in the matter of a decade. Both realities met in what is still today an usual Spanish feature, the idea of having a "Pueblo", for the lack of better translation. It became usual for lots of families living in the Metropolitan areas to spend their summers in their originary towns and villages (pueblos in Spanish) Another consumerist society had born. Even with all the problems of the time, tomorrow seemed like brighter and hopeful day for most people, though fears about political violence or another civil war after Franco passed away existed.

Between those two points a long process of economical and social changes that is interesting for how quickly it happened.

So, I think it would be easier to answer you if you asked about specifical aspects of life under francoism in a given time and place.

The only thing I can think dealing in a general way with the life of the "average family" is a heavily romanticed TV series made by the Spanish public broadcaster (RTVE) and that has run now for 17 years: "Cuéntame cómo pasó". It covers from 1969 onwards (I think they are now in the late 80's, but I haven't followed it for years) As I say, it's intended for entertaiming (and building a certain historical narrative, IMO) so there is a lot of romantisation, nostalgia, and forced or unlikely plot devices. Still it can be interesting for a historian, not so much because what it tells, but because how it tells it. The way we deal with the civil war and the dictatorship is a very sensitive issue in Spain.

Edit: If you understand Spanish, you probably can wacht it for free here:

http://www.rtve.es/television/cuentame/temporadas/