Franco Dictatorship Era: Economy, Politics, and Repression
The Franco Dictatorship (1936–1975)
Economic Policy
During the Franco regime, the Spanish economy aimed for self-sufficiency. While imports were minimal and highly priced, domestic production was prioritized. Franco established fixed prices for most products, leading to issues like black markets and rationing systems. The National Institute of Industry (INI) was created, but foreign industry struggled to gain a foothold.
Political Structure
The political system transitioned from democracy to a dictatorship based on an ideology similar to Mussolini’s. Franco sought a centralized and unified state.
Repression and Control
The regime implemented severe repression:
- Political Opponents: Military jurisdiction was used to eliminate opposition. Laws created political responsibilities, ensuring opponents detained by military tribunals faced harsh sentences.
- Economic Repression: Opponents had their property confiscated. They were denied the right to protest.
- Cultural Genocide: Franco aimed to erase all cultures that did not align with the regime’s unifying ideology. Catholicism became the sole, state-financed religion, forming a union between the state and National Catholicism. Catholicism was taught in schools.
- Labor Exclusion: Workers were excluded from power. Only vertical associations (state-controlled unions) were permitted, limiting workers’ rights.
As the regime aged, Spain transitioned from a rural to an industrial society. Opposition grew, leading to the formation of clandestine parties and strikes. By the 1970s, the regime entered a period of physical deterioration alongside Franco’s own decline.
Catalan Repression (First Stage)
Cultural Suppression
The Francoists sought to eliminate Catalan culture. Catalan was prohibited. Some Catalan conservatives joined exiled Catalanists in France. Cambó, defended in France after the Civil War ended in 1939, saw cultural activity cease. All cultural activities became illegal, though clandestine publications persisted. Artists formed the association “Dau al Set”.
Political Resistance
After the war, the ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) struggled to organize. New groups emerged, including the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) and the PSUC (the most significant, later led by Reventós after abandoning its socialist roots). The CNT survived underground, publishing clandestine newspapers. Christian Democrats opposed Franco while defending Catholicism.
The Maquis resistance emerged, operating mainly in mountainous areas. They conducted raids, but many were captured or suppressed.
Exile (Lexili)
Many Spaniards fled to France and South America. Some faced hardship; for instance, Companys was captured by the Gestapo and handed over to Franco. Irla served as President of the Generalitat. In 1945, Pompeu Fabra and Josep Carner joined the Generalitat. In 1948, the government dissolved, and Tarradellas resigned in an attempt to defend Catalan interests.
Second Stage: Decline of the Dictatorship
Opposition grew from various sectors, including university Catholics, monarchists, and other dissenting groups. The Church distanced itself from Franco. The official pro-Franco student union disappeared, replaced by a democratic student union that resisted the regime’s mandates. Students and teachers united against the regime’s control.
Significant events included:
- The Palace of Facts incident, where a group sang the Catalan anthem (“L’Estelada”).
- In 1966, the “Taula Rodona” (Round Table) was formed as a platform against Franco.
- In 1971, the Assembly of Catalonia was created to fight Franco and organize for the post-Franco era under the slogan: “Freedom, Amnesty, Statute of Autonomy”.
Since direct confrontation was too dangerous, Catalan institutions began promoting the use and recovery of the Catalan language.