AWAITING THE TEMPEST (Spain from dictatorship to democracy) Part 2 Imagine it is the early 1970s and you are in Spain… Of course, in some ways, life is better than it has ever been in Spain.  There is negligible crime, the economy is undergoing miraculous growth and there is more money in the country than ever before, which is producing a burgeoning middle class.  This is an extraordinary phenomenon within a traditionally impoverished state, noted for the wealth of a few and the poverty of the vast majority. After the Second World War (1939-45), Spain (along with the UK) received no help from the USA’s far sighted and extraordinarily successful Marshall Plan, which was aimed at regenerating a ruined Europe. …

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AWAITING THE TEMPEST Part 1 Imagine it is the early 1970s and you are in Spain, with the country still firmly in the grip of General Franco (El Caudillo).  He is in his late 70s (he was born in 1892) and has held absolute power for the past thirty plus years, since the end of the brutal Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Over 500,000 Spaniards were killed during the Civil War and memories of it are still fresh, with many Spaniards having first-hand experience of the war.  Almost everyone is scarred by this and the awful White Terror, during which Franco sought to cleanse the country of any opposition or past opponents of the Nacionales. From 1936 to 1945 there were…

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The Spanish Civil War 1936-39 was a conflict notable for its brutality and for the way it savagely divided Spain.  It resulted, of course, in General Franco’s long dictatorship (which only ended in 1975) and was a defining moment for Spain – the results of which can be felt even now. However, the Civil War in Spain was also notorious for being incredibly ‘messy’ politically – so much so that understanding what was happening can be extremely difficult.  Everyone, it seems, was fighting everyone, at one time or another, as a bewildering array of political views sought dominance in Spain from extreme anarchists through to communists, socialists, fascists and republicans.  Different areas, different members of families and competing regional interests…

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El Cid is one of the great heroes of Spain and, unlike Britain’s beloved King Arthur, he is someone who really existed. Born sometime in 1040, close to Burgos in the kingdom of Castille, El Cid was a true adventurer who had an extraordinary life, during which (somehow) he managed to survive despite fighting, at various times, for both the Moors and for the Spanish.  By the end of his life, this remarkable soldier had carved out his own fiefdom in Valencia.  This he ruled with little more than cursory attention to King Alfonso VI – the most powerful Christian king in Spain at the time. Of course, to many people, the image of El Cid that springs to mind…

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