Fifty years after the dictator’s death, there are still lessons in Spanish democracy marked by the silence that remains uncomfortable, the lack of information after decades of half-truths, and the constant worry that society will forget where it came from. “You take democracy for granted. It seems to you that the rights you enjoy today are natural, and this is not the case.”
These words were expressed by the Commissioner for the Celebration of 50 Years of Freedom in Spain, Carmina Justrán, during the meeting held on Thursday with members of elDiario.es about the presentation of the magazine “50th Anniversary of Freedom”. In addition to having a greater institutional perspective and experience—she holds a PhD in contemporary history—the different appearance of the attendees helped complete the analysis.
The event was moderated by Gomercindo Lafuente, the magazine’s editor, who began by making room for Gustran and highlighting those “dark areas” still in the making by the administration. “There is still a lot to be done,” Gostran admitted. “Direct testimony, giving concrete examples, is very important.” The commissioner pointed to graffiti on Complutense: “Historical memory speaks to your grandmother.”
One of the audience questions was directed specifically to these “pending things” that need to be done after the end of the dictatorship. The Commissioner pointed out, for example: “I know that the Francisco Franco Foundation is on the verge of extinction, and it was announced this month. The procedures for the Primo de Rivera and Quiepo de Llano Foundations have also begun.” “My personal opinion is that there is a lot of work left.”
Rights
Looking back and analyzing the great milestones or rights that were achieved, Iñigo Saenz de Ugarte, political correspondent and deputy director of elDiario.es, explains: In the first government of Felipe Gonzalez there were 17 ministers, and at that time it was not surprising that they were all men: “They were a bit like clones,” he says jokingly. Something that will not go unnoticed today.
“There is another interesting thing to remember: despite what many people, especially the left, think, all the political battles that the Catholic Church has fought since the late 1970s have lost, although it has not lost its position in the field of education. When those big public debates took place, the position of the Church was always the one that was defeated,” continued Ugarte, who gave examples: with divorce, abortion laws, equal marriage law…
If we talk about rights, openness and social development, we must talk about the migrant population. For this reason, Gabriela Sanchez, a journalist from the website elDiario.es, specializing in migration issues, was relied upon. “Spanish society has become more diverse.” During the transitional period, in a very short time, Spain received a large foreign population. However, despite that Boom It did not lead to a struggle for coexistence: now, when far-right rhetoric focuses on attacking these people, problems may begin to arise. The journalist says: “The one who set the framework now is the extreme right, and hate speech has begun to penetrate in a certain way.”
corruption
During the talk, one of the major scourges that we still carry from the dictatorship, but especially from the transition, was analysed: corruption. “With regard to corruption (…) you never start from scratch. You carry a legacy of corruption from the previous dictatorship,” explains Sáenz de Ugarte. Grand corruption and petty corruption, which is what distinguishes Ugarte: the first relates more to big controversial issues and the second to that “nepotism” that we know so well in Spain.
The journalist continues: While figures such as Felipe Gonzalez or José María Aznar, during the transitional period, suffered from cases of corruption in their governments due to the concentration of power, the situation now is a little different because this concentration no longer exists to the same extent: “The personal relationships of great leaders play their role here.”
the future
Throughout the conversation, there is a thought floating in the air, which is the ambition: to be able to reach the younger population, ensure that what the Spanish population has suffered for decades is not forgotten, and of course that something similar does not happen again. To talk about youth you have to rely on youth. In this case, with Andrea García, journalist from elDiario.es and one of the youngest additions to the editorial board. “I have a feeling that we are a country that does not like to talk about uncomfortable things at all,” he says.
García focuses on how in many cases memory education remains in second place, sometimes not included in the school curriculum or tiptoed in, and it must be the student himself who becomes interested in the self-learning method. The journalist talks about how more and more young people, especially men, are “nostalgic” for a past they did not know: “The rebellious thing now is to be a façade.”
The Commissioner adds that in addition to making a greater effort on the part of institutions and society in general to reach the youngest, we must also “adapt the language”, especially on social networks, and commit to public policies that improve people’s lives. But he adds a point that he considers important: “We need exciting speeches” that look to the future.