Fighting from Portugal for a New Spain: The ‘Black Embassy’ in Lisbon During the Spanish Civil War: Information, Press and Propaganda

Abstract

This article analyses the information actions undertaken by General Franco's diplomatic services in Portugal and their relationship with the Portuguese media during the Spanish Civil War. The source documents from Spanish and Portuguese archives used for this work prove that the so-called ‘black embassy’, acting in the service of the Spanish rebel militaries, had a strong influence on the Portuguese press and radio, which facilitated the dissemination of propaganda and shaped their information discourse to serve the interests of the Francoist side with the aid of the Portuguese government, an ally of the insurgents against the legal government in Madrid. In order to legitimise internationally the military coup and to publicise Franco's new Spain, the ‘black embassy’ carried out an intense media activity which included the spreading of false information, institutional declarations, press releases or photo montages.