50 years later, Franco’s popularity revived in Spain

The country emerged from dictatorship half a century ago but Franco is increasingly popular, especially among the younger generation. Why is there such a revival?

“I love Franco! The dictatorship we have now is worse. Franco has done good things.” These expressions have become commonplace in Spain, where some of the younger generation increasingly admire Franco. It has been 50 years, Thursday, November 20, since the death of dictator Francisco Franco. Important date for the start of the Transition and gradual return to democracy in Spain.

But as the country celebrates this disappearance, sections of society and, in particular, an increasing number of young men are seduced by the figure of Franco. According to a recent survey conducted by the Sociological Research Center, 19% of young people think that the years of dictatorship were difficult times. “Good” Or “very good”.

Experts, such as Emilio Silva, sociologist and president of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory, point to the main causes of this phenomenon: “The various governments in Spain, after the death of the dictator, devoted themselves to producing ignorance, especially in educational centers, to hide the lives of the leaders of the dictatorship and its elite, in order to cover them comfortably in democracy. And now we are paying the price for these efforts so that people ignore the past.”

But Franco also gained popularity thanks to right-wing speeches, omnipresent on social networks, that reinterpreted and belittled Francoism. Being a fascist seems fashionable and anti-system for young people who don’t mind no longer living in a democracy.

To fight the dictatorship’s revisionism, Fernando Mazo, a teacher at a secondary school in Madrid, focuses on education. “At this school, one of our principles is the question of critical thinkingexplained Fernando Mazo. We want students to really take sides, especially in the idea of ​​improving the world. As history teachers, we try to dig into the past, not in a doctrinal or partisan way, but so that our students understand that much remains untold or poorly told. Our educational and vital goal is to restore the memory of our country.”

Show students what Francoism really is and restore democratic values ​​that seem to be in danger, a major challenge for the Spanish education system, while the far-right Vox party continues to gain support.