Franquismo sociológico
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Sociological Francoism ( es, franquismo sociológico) is an expression used in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
which attests to the social characteristics typical of
Francoism Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
that survived in Spanish society after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975 and continue to the present day. The root causes of sociological Francoism are found in the prolonged state of repression that existed during the forty years of the Franco dictatorship (1936–1975), and the fear of a repetition of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
and a clashing of the so-called two Spains. A further reason for its durability is the positive role attributed to Francoism in the Spanish economic boom (the
Spanish miracle The Spanish miracle ( es, el milagro español) refers to a period of exceptionally rapid development and growth across all major areas of economic activity in Spain during the latter part of the Francoist regime, from 1959 to 1974, in which GD ...
, 1959–1975), while avoiding reference to the mass Spanish emigration or the period of economic recession that prevailed during the ten years following the Transition (1975–1985). All of this led the Spanish social majority, including even those identified with the anti-Francoist opposition, to perpetuate the conservative and survivalist behaviours that were learned and transmitted from generation to generation since the 1940s. These include self-censorship and the voluntary submission and conformity to authority – which in extreme cases could even be classified as servility (most commonly identified with the "
silent majority The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised address on November 3, 1969, in which he said, " ...
") – which provided the regime with its cheapest, most effective and most ubiquitous form of repression. In an interview with Xavier Moret, the writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán described the phenomenon in the following way:
There was a sociological Francoism which existed before and still exists to a greater or lesser extent today, coupled with Francoist rhetoric in which only the best years – those of 1962 or 1963 and the first part of the 1970s – are remembered, omitting the years of misery and the economic recession that existed prior to the Spanish Civil War and continued to grow under Francoism. The economically prosperous years have been mythologized within sociological Francoism; however, we should remind ourselves that this success was based on exporting the unemployed first to Catalonia and the Basque Country and then later to Europe.
In a similar vein, the philosopher José Luis López Aranguren has written that "Francoism, while originally a political system, transformed into a way of life for the Spanish people".


Sociological Francoism and political culture

In the exercise of political power, sociological Francoism is defined as "the political culture of identification with the rancoistregime". However, the journalist Antonio Maestre adds a definition that goes beyond the political sphere, describing sociological Francoism as:
The collection of citizens and politicians that, having lived well under Francoism and supported its ideas, were in favour of opening up the regime to a certain degree to ensure that the Transition would proceed in a tolerable direction.
The popularity of Franco during his dictatorship was not measured in opinion polls, but in the
legitimacy Legitimacy, from the Latin ''legitimare'' meaning "to make lawful", may refer to: * Legitimacy (criminal law) * Legitimacy (family law) * Legitimacy (political) See also * Bastard (law of England and Wales) * Illegitimacy in fiction * Legit (d ...
of the army and the charismatic legitimacy of his person ( caudillismo), as well as the widespread social binding that took place through the
Movimiento nacional ''Movimiento Nacional'' ( en, National Movement) was a governing institution of Spain established by General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. During Francoist rule in Spain, it purported to be the only channel of participa ...
(all of which are typical elements of
fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
). Together, these ensured massive public demonstrations of support and the practically unanimous results in sporadically held national referendums (such as the Spanish organic law referendum of 1966). In 1969, in one of his last televised Christmas addresses, Franco spoke of Spain's future, saying that all was ''atado y bien atado'' (literally "tied and well tied", referring to the institutionalization of his regime), which became a popular saying in Spain. Any clues to his personal health were carefully scrutinized, as were his cryptically expressed intentions, such as the phrase ''no hay mal que por bien no venga'' (roughly equivalent to "every cloud has a silver lining"), which he used in reference to the assassination of
Luis Carrero Blanco Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco (4 March 1904 – 20 December 1973) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of Spain and i ...
in 1973 by the Basque separatist group
ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
, and whose meaning was the subject of endless speculation. In a secret 1971 interview with Vernon Walters, envoy of
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
, Franco expressed his opinion that upon his death, Spanish society would carry out a political evolution that would not break with his legacy, as the now larger and more well-off Spanish middle class would avoid risking another civil war. In the regime change that followed Franco's death in 1975, however, those that remained most loyal to Francoism were relegated to far-right movements that failed to gain a single seat in 1977 (and only elected a single MP,
Blas Piñar Blas Piñar López (22 November 1918 – 28 January 2014) was a Spanish far right politician. Having connections to Catholic organizations, during the Francoist dictatorship he directed the Institute of Hispanic Culture (''Instituto de Cultura ...
, in the second general elections in 1979 under the coalitionist Unión nacional banner). The political right, represented by a coalition of former Francoist administrators under the banner of the Alianza Popular (referred to as ''aperturistas'', those in favour of social reform), attempted to strike a balance between the need to connect with the social majority while at the same time minimizing associations with the past, though with very little electoral success. During the 1970s and 1980s, the social majority tended to vote for parties from the centre (such as the UCD, led by
Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...
) or the left (
PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
). In a book about the Transition,
Alfonso Osorio Alfonso Osorio García (13 December 1923 – 27 August 2018) was a Spanish politician. Born in Santander on 13 December 1923, Osorio studied law at the University of Oviedo. He joined the State Lawyers Corps in 1953, serving in Cuenca and Toledo. ...
, a member of the 1977 Adolfo Suárez government, describes the reasons behind Alianza Popular's failure to capitalize on sociological Francoism:
What the Alianza Popular intended for, in essence, was to use sociological francoism to their advantage. But as it worked out, what they actually capitalized on was the lingering, and less significant, political Francoism...In the meantime, this sociological Francoism...favoured other democratic options closer to the centre.
Yet the political system continued to show elements inherited from Francoism. The debate between a post-Franco ''reforma o ruptura'' (political reform or rupture) ended in a compromise reform established by constitutional consensus, as left-wing parties were conscious that their own weakness prevented a full rupture with the old regime. From 1976 onwards, King Juan Carlos I (designated by Franco as his successor in 1969) and his team of close advisors (essentially
Torcuato Fernández-Miranda Torcuato Fernández-Miranda y Hevia, 1st Duke of Fernández-Miranda (10 November 1915 – 19 June 1980) was a Spanish lawyer and politician who played important roles in both the Spanish State of Francisco Franco and in the Spanish transition ...
and
Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...
) implemented the agreed-upon reform, which left both the ''inmovilistas'' (ultraconservatives) and the best-known ''aperturistas'' (progressives such as
Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician in Francoist Spain, who was also the founder of the People's Party. Fraga was Minister of Information and Tourism between 1962 and 1969, Amba ...
and
José María de Areilza José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
) sidelined from the process. The degree of democracy thus achieved is questioned by some writers, including Armando López Salinas, who considers it essentially controlled reform, in some sense similar to
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, 11th Prince of Lampedusa, 12th Duke of Palma, GE (; 23 December 1896 – 23 July 1957) was an Italian writer and the last Prince of Lampedusa. He is most famous for his only novel, '' Il Gattopardo'' (first publish ...
's characterization of the Italian unification in his novel ''
The Leopard ''The Leopard'' ( it, Il Gattopardo ) is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the ''Risorgimento''. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the ...
'': "The
ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and by exte ...
es need to change something so that everything remains the same".


''Con Franco vivíamos mejor''

A sign of the survival of Francoist sentiment in a large segment of the population was, among other things, the widespread success of far-right sympathiser Fernando Vizcaíno Casas' satirical novels ('' Al tercer año resucitó'', ''De camisa vieja a chaqueta nueva''), which express viewpoints associated with the then-popular saying "''Con Franco vivíamos mejor''" (literally, "We lived better with Franco"). Even in 2007, in the context of the debates surrounding the
Historical Memory Law Law 52/2007 That recognises and broadens the rights and establishes measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Civil War and the Dictatorship (in Spanish: ''Ley 52/2007 por la que se reconocen y amplían derechos ...
, there was still resistance among large segments of society and the political establishment to condemn Francoism, as demonstrated by Spanish right-wing politician
Jaime Mayor Oreja Jaime Mayor Oreja (born 12 July 1951) is a former Spanish conservative politician of the People's Party. He served as member of the Basque Parliament, of the Spanish Parliament, and of the European Parliament, as well as being Spanish Minist ...
:
Why should I have to condemn Francoism when there were many families that lived it with naturalness and normality? In my Basque lands there were endless myths. The panish Civilwar was much worse than Francoism. Some say that the persecutions in Basque towns were terrible, but it can't have been the case if all the Civil Guards from Galicia were asking to be sent to the Basque Country. It was a situation of extraordinary tranquility. Let's leave the commentaries on Francoism to the historians.
The traditional values also remained identified with Francoism: country, religion, and family. As such, "Francoism" is used, in some respects, as synonymous with
conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
, patriarchy,
traditionalist conservatism Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere ...
, or
authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voti ...
; all long-standing phenomena that predate Franco. Indeed, some even reverse the cause and effect between Franco and sociologicial Francoism, positing Franco as the effect of a ''pre-existing'' sociological Francoism, as described by former '' El País'' editor-in-chief Juan Luis Cebrián:
I don't believe that Franco was the cause, but rather the consequence. I don't think that Franco or Francoism were a sort of military group that seized power, but rather the physical manifestation, or result, of a way of understanding Spain. And a large part of that way of understanding Spain has been transmitted from generation to generation among the sectors of the Spanish right-wing which former president Aznar belongs to, and in which I was educated. I went to the same school as Aznar; my family is, sociologically, like Aznar's; I studied where he studied, which is to say, the Salamanca neighbourhood of Madrid. That is the sociological Francoism to which I belonged, and thus know so well.
The Spanish journalist Enrique Gil Calvo adds ''desarrollismo'' – the quick and unscrupulous economic growth that brought about the so-called
Spanish Miracle The Spanish miracle ( es, el milagro español) refers to a period of exceptionally rapid development and growth across all major areas of economic activity in Spain during the latter part of the Francoist regime, from 1959 to 1974, in which GD ...
– as another area that has remained identified with Francoism, describing Madrid as having changed from the "red breakwater of all the Spains" to an "ostentatious showcase of upstart sociological neo-Francoism". The writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán has been attributed with penning the satirical derivative phrase ''"contra Franco vivíamos'' ''mejor"'' (literally "We lived better against Franco").


''Esto con Franco no pasaba''

Another saying that remains present in Spanish society is ''"Esto con Franco no pasaba"'' (literally "This never used to happen with Franco"). It was initially used as a way of denouncing behaviours, arising soon after the death of Franco, that contradicted the norms of the ultra- Catholic morality (see: the ''destape'' (literally "uncovering") period of Spanish cinema that followed the abolition of censorship, or the Movida Madrileña). Currently it is usually used in a rhetorical way to point out the irony that, despite living in a liberal democracy, some freedoms that were permitted by the Francoist regime, such as smoking in public places or barbecuing in the mountains or the beach, have been taken away. Similarly, it is used to criticize current problems in society that did not exist in the Franco era, like the
Spanish property bubble The Spanish property bubble is the collapsed overshooting part of a long-term price increase of Spanish real estate prices. This long-term price increase has happened in various stages from 1985 up to 2008. The housing bubble can be clearly divi ...
, and the consequent delay in young adults leaving the family home.


Moncloa syndrome

Debates have continued as to whether, in a democratic sense, the lasting effects of Francoism were greater or lesser than the actual changes. One aspect described as an inheritance from the Francoist past is the notable personalism of Spain's leadership (e.g.
Adolfo Suarez Adolfo may refer to: * Adolfo, São Paulo, a Brazilian municipality * Adolfo (designer), Cuban-born American fashion designer * Adolfo or Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in Ge ...
,
Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since the ...
, José María Aznar, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,
Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
and
Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...
) coupled with the extraordinary sway that the government holds over the
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, much greater than in other European democracies. Although the 1978 Constitution cannot be described as a presidential system, the powers held by the
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
are ample. On the other hand, the investiture of the Prime Minister has always occurred without too many issues until the inconclusive 2015 general election, especially compared to other
parliamentary democracies A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
(such as Italy); government mandates have been stable (except for the failed ''coup d'état'' of 1981, or perhaps precisely because of it) and lengthy (except the government of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, due to that same circumstance), and had never resorted to coalition government, until the second Sánchez Government in 2020. A final aspect is the fact that the Spanish government has traditionally been a
two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually refe ...
with smaller, peripheral nationalist/regionalist parties, although the recent rise of Podemos and Ciudadanos has produced a more fragmented parliament.


Criticism of the concept

In an essay, the Spanish academic Carlos Ollero expressed the following reservations about the concept of sociological Francoism:
I think that this expression is imprecise and can lend itself to misunderstandings. It is necessary to distinguish between two interrelated, yet different, meanings, with varying degrees of effectiveness. The first, stricter, meaning refers to the complex of socioeconomic structures and concrete interests that are created, maintained and strengthened by the Francoist system. The second, too broad, includes under the umbrella term of "sociological Francoism" what, in general terms, can be understood as the ensemble of sociopolitical attitudes, consistencies in personal and collective behaviour, and passive or indecisive inertia prompted by forty years of steadfast exercise of personal power.


See also

* Pact of Forgetting *
Communist nostalgia Communist nostalgia, also called communism nostalgia or socialist nostalgia, is the nostalgia in various post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia for the prior communist states. Bartmanski, DominikSuccessful icons of failed ti ...
* Southern nostalgia


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franquismo sociológico Francoist Spain Spanish transition to democracy Society of Spain Social ideologies Nostalgia