Spanish State Research Articles

Choreographing Independence: Performing La Diada, or Catalonia’s National Day, for Cultural Unity or Political Division?

ABSTRACT La Diada, Catalonia’s national day, has had a complex history entwined in the cultural politics of Spain. It developed late in the nineteenth century as part of a constructed, reimagining of a past independent Catalan nation. The annual 11 September remembrance event was subsequently suppressed during the Franco regime, and later revived but limited to a short official wreath-laying ceremony with associated cultural events. Since 2012, grassroots independence campaigners have orgainzed huge public marches on the day, calling for Independence as the separatist movement across Catalonia gained momentum in the immediate aftermath of the global economic downturn of 2008. It is now a cultural-politico device and a tool for place making and nation-building. Drawing on Tali Hatuka’s (2018, The Design of Protest; choreographing political demonstrations in public space. Austin: University of Texas Press) approaches to the Design of Protests, and through the utilization of discourse analysis of interviews, media coverage and political policy this study traces the development of the day through a number of key stages and its contemporary appropriated cultural role in the separatist movement. It concludes that the events staged around La Diada are an increasingly divisive set of tactics that lead to cultural alienation and give rise to division and increasing tension in Catalan and broader Spanish society.

Dealing with Death in a Secular Society: The Case of Muslim Burials in Spain

Death is not only a universal biological fact; for the individual it is the “event horizon”. This fact has important symbolic meanings and complex social consequences. Any society, secular or not, must manage this reality. What response is given to the question of religious phenomenon in general, and to funerary practices in particular, in a secular society in which individuals with different religious sensibilities coexist? This article aims to analyse the response given by the Spanish state to the questions raised regarding burials by Muslim communities, the most widespread minority group in Spain as a whole. This response, which would be framed within what could be called a ‘cooperation model’, has encountered some difficulties as a result of the territorial organisation of the Spanish state. Despite this, the willingness to cooperate on the part of both the administrations that make up the state and the Islamic communities has made a situation of stable coexistence possible.

P-380 Reproductive autonomy in Spain - reproduction as a negative right and the obligations of the State

Abstract Study question Even when considering the right to reproduction as a negative right are there actions to be taken in order achieve a better reproductive autonomy? Summary answer Specific actions become a necessary positivisation of the right to reproduction. Ensuring socio-economic stability and promoting specific education are key parameters for promoting fertility. What is known already The reproductive autonomy of individuals consists of being able to choose the number of children desired and the appropriate timing between deliveries. However, there are many factors that prevent reproductive autonomy from being fully developed in Spain, being the country with the second lowest fertility indicator in Europe. There are texts that argue that reproductive autonomy should be approached from a Human Rights perspective and urge governments to adopt positive measures in accordance. However, the European Court of Human Rights' rulings on this issue are far from this perspective. Nevertheless, states have obligations to enhance the reproductive autonomy of individuals. Study design, size, duration In order to stablish this position, we studied the Spanish demographic and fertility indicator data and examined the existing Spanish laws regarding assisted reproductive techniques (such as Law 14/2006), the European Court of Human Rights' ruling on this matter, United Nations consensus related to this field, the Guttmacher-Lancet commission and recommendations of scientific societies such as ESHRE. Participants/materials, setting, methods Bibliography was achieved using the European Court Human Rights' ruling HUDOC database, the Spanish State Official Newsletter and United Nations Library, between others. Socio-economic and demographic indexes were obtained with Eurostat and the Spanish National Statistics Office. Selected legal aspects were included in the revision and manuscript. Main results and the role of chance The Spanish socio-economic panorama is unfavorable for the emancipation of young people and the consequent formation of families with offspring, which aggravates the existing demographic crisis and generational turnover. Importantly, people are not being fully autonomous in their reproductive decisions, mainly due to a lack of information and foresight regarding real fertility and infertility expectations. States must ensure comprehensive sexual and reproductive health promotion, which includes reproductive autonomy. The wide range of rights that constitute the so-called reproductive rights is encompassed within the framework of human rights. However, the right to reproduction is not always considered as a positive right, although the legislator must ensure that people can fully exercise their autonomy. The fact that the full positivisation of the right to reproduction is not considered does not exempt the State from obligations to ensure the reproductive autonomy of its citizens. Therefore, the positivisation of the right to reproduction must ensure socio-economic stability and reproductive health education, thus preventing future infertility problems. Public and private clinics and health centers must be provided with the necessary means to diagnose possible reproductive pathologies. Education and economic stability are solutions to most of the problems related to population growth and infertility. Limitations, reasons for caution In this study we have interpreted international Law, soft-law and reccommendations according to the actual Spanish socio-economic and demographic context, which may not be adequate to extrapolate to other countries or populations. Wider implications of the findings To consider the right to reproduction as a positive right may mean converting the State into a provider of resources for this purpose. However, positivisation of the right to reproduction materializes in education and socio-economic stability, actions worth considering, such as creating public campaigns aimed at fertility education and awareness. Trial registration number Not applicable

Structural Relationship between Psychological Needs and Sport Adherence for Students Participating in Physical Education Class

The satisfaction of basic psychological needs leads students to engage in a sport modality on their own initiative. In the Spanish public educational system, mixed and heterogeneous, the gender and sport experience of students influence the teaching and motivation of invasion sports. This study investigated whether students’ gender and sport experience, and model influence the psychological variables (basic psychological needs and sport adherence) when teaching school soccer and basketball. Furthermore, correlations were calculated between these psychological variables. The study involved 165 fifth and sixth grade students (Mage, 11.27 ± 0.68 years old) from several Spanish state schools in the same autonomous community. A non-random convenience sample was used. The needs for autonomy, perceived competence and social relationships were measured using the Basic Psychological Needs in Physical Exercise Scale. Sport adherence was measured using the Measure of Intentionality to be Physically Active. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Cronbach’s Alpha, Average Variance Extracted and Composite Reliability were used to analyze the psychometric properties of the scales. Descriptive and inferential analyses were obtained after performing a Mixed Linear Model and a Bonferroni Post Hoc. There were significant differences in the autonomy need according to the students’ gender (boys > girls). In addition, boys who learned with the TGA model scored significantly higher than girls on this need. Attending to sport adherence, there were significant differences in favor of experienced students. Likewise, a regression analysis (structural equation model) revealed that the autonomy need showed low association with sport adherence. Higher perceived competence (β = 0.52) and social relationships (β = 0.36) were associated with greater adherence to sport (R2 = 0.65). Teachers’ Knowledge and proper managing basic psychological needs will have educational, social and health benefits, as it will increase the likelihood of physical activity in and out of school.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on visits to the hospital emergency service in two hospitals in Spain, from March 14, 2020 to June 21, 2020

This study will describe trends in the use of emergency departments before and after the Spanish State of Alarm, especially in pathologies not directly related to this infection. A cross-sectional study was conducted of all visits to the emergency departments in two third-level hospitals in two Spanish communities during the Spanish State of Alarm, compared with the same period of the previous year. The variables collected included the day of the week, the time of the visit, the duration of the visit, the final destination of the patients (home, admission to a conventional hospitalization ward, admission to the intensive care unit, and death), and the diagnosis at discharge according to the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision. During the Spanish State of Alarm period, an overall decrease in care demand of 48% was observed, which reached 69.5% in pediatric emergency departments. We also saw a drop of between 20 and 30% in time-dependent pathologies (heart attack, stroke, sepsis, poisoning). The decrease in overall attendance in the emergency departments and absence of serious pathologies, such as time-dependent diseases, observed during the Spanish State of Alarm compared to the previous year highlights the need to strengthen the messages addressed to the population to encourage them to seek care without delay in case of alarming symptoms and reduce the high morbidity and mortality rate if the diagnosis is delayed.

From peasant to housewife. Feminine roles and agriculturaltraining in Franco's Spain

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to outline the ideal that the Franco dictatorship pursued for the case of rural women and analyze its evolution during the almost forty years that the dictatorship lasted. For this purpose, we have analyzed the official curricula of the female agrarian training schools, where the women who were to be ‘models’ for the peasant women were trained. The press and reports from the Ministry of Agriculture and women’s magazines of the time were consulted. We conclude that this specific education sought to turn them into housewives by erasing the traces of their peasant identity and that this process entailed the creation of a space that could be called ‘home’ and the assignment to them of specific tasks within it.

(Sin)vergüenza: El amor del revés de Luisgé Martín a la luz de la teoría de los afectos

Abstract: This article offers a new reading of Luisgé Martín's autobiography El amor del revés (2016) through the lens of affect theory, building on the writings of the American psychologist Silvan Tomkins and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's work on shame and periperformative utterances. A methodological framework proposed by the Polish queer theorist Tomasz Basiuk is used here to compare the configurations of shame in Martín's autobiography with the rhetorical strategies in American gay men's life writings. Performances of shame are foregrounded in the analysis as a salient feature of El amor del revés , in order to argue that they serve as a means to overcome the homophobia internalized by the generations of men who grew up in Spain under Franco's dictatorship. Borrowing Basiuk's key deconstructionist concept, exposure, which conveys the risk taken by gay authors in their autobiographical texts, I posit that Martín writes socially engaged literature, and that in doing so he relies on the coming-out narrative model typical for gay autobiographies to tell the story of his life. Yet he uses rhetorical strategies that reveal the constructedness of the story and of his sexual identity.

Is Spain Different? The Tamed Memory of the Spanish Civil War and the Limits of Spain's National Self‐Image (2008–10)

This article focusses on ongoing discussions about the place of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) and the Franco dictatorship (1939–75) in Spain's democracy. Following the suspension of Judge Baltasar Garzón by the Spanish Supreme Court in 2010, who had indicted General Francisco Franco (1892–1975) and thirty‐four accomplices under international law for committing crimes against humanity, a debate arose between leading intellectuals in Spain about the growing international influence on Spain's war past. This debate revealed that a group of influential left‐wing intellectuals attempted to curb the social and political influence of the citizens' memory movements. The author observes how this happened by applying three strategies: the foreign strategy, the nationalistic‐ethical strategy, and the saturation strategy. He concludes that the growing international pressure on Spain's handling of the Civil War and dictatorship led to a “Spanification” of the “culture of the transición” as a national memory, causing the memory movements to lose momentum and curbing the international influence on Spain's handling of its dictatorial past.

The production of socio-spatial injustice towards the Romani population during the franco regime: The neighborhoods of Lo Campano and los Mateos in Cartagena (Spain)

62.8% of the Romani population in Spain lives in settlements that are segregated from the urban center or in peripheral neighborhoods, a sign of their historical persecution and discrimination. Anti-Romani sentiment has been territorialized by eliminating autonomy and means of self-production of space, with urban planning and housing policies being a key element in the materialization of their urban segregation, particularly during the Franco regime. Identifying the Romani as a surplus element in urban space led to their expulsion from self-produced housing, relocating them to peripheral social housing neighborhoods. Through the case studies, this article analyzes the Lo Campano and Los Mateos neighborhoods in Cartagena, Spain, the production of socio-spatial injustice against the Romani during Franco's regime, using Nancy Fraser's (1996) definition of social justice, and Giddens' (1994) structuration theory, as an analytical framework. The results indicate that these policies formed the basis of an urban and housing necropolitical exercise against the Romani, identifying them as surplus to the urban space and expelling them from their self-built homes to peripheral social housing.

‘I’ve never seen so many men wasted so badly’: On Francoist Mass Graves and a Film Set Cemetery

This article compares the reception of Sad Hill Cemetery, a fictional setting from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Sergio Leone, and the reality of the mass graves from the Spanish Civil War. The Western was mainly filmed in Spain during General Franco's dictatorship. It is set during the American Civil War (1861–1865). This article looks at the different forms of memory politics in both cases in Spain today. Drawing on Roland Barthes’ concept of myth, the discussion also refers to current conflicts in modern Spanish society.

Spatial Crisis and the Experimental Production of Urban Space in Franco’s Spain: The History of Madrid’s Poblados Dirigidos

The article analyzes the ideological reasoning, planning rationale, and construction of controlled/satellite neighborhoods ( poblados dirigidos) in the metropolitan area of Madrid during the 1950s and 1960s. Poblados dirigidos were compact and minutely planned barrios on which the Franco regime (1939-1975) hinged its hopes for re-directing urban growth and controlling informal urbanization. While the phenomenon of poblados dirigidos was investigated by several Spanish architects and urban planners, their work focused mostly on the design of these neighborhoods, the structure of their housing units, and the innovative construction techniques. The current article suggests that the spatial crisis that drove the dictatorship to embrace the planning module of poblados dirigidos cannot be understood in isolation from the political and economic challenges faced by the regime during its “interim decades.” These challenges led to a progressive shift in the regime’s territorial representations and to a partial shift in its spatial practices, which the article analyzes.

The Censorship of a Closeted Spain: The Case of Elena Fortún (1886–1952)

This article focuses on how self-censorship and state censorship have shaped the literary legacy of the Spanish author of children’s books, Elena Fortún. The homosexual closet is presented as a key concept for understanding the impact of censorship on the work of a lesbian writer such as Fortún who has contributed to various narratives of Spanish femininity over the course of almost a century. The first of these is the narrative of gender dissidence during the Second Republic (1931–1939); followed by the narrative of the wife and mother belonging to the Franco Regime (1939–1975); and finally the LGBTQ inclusiveness of the new millennium in Spain (2005–2022). The works included in the analysis are varied, spanning from Fortún’s children’s books to her correspondence and finally two posthumously published novels. This reading of Fortún’s texts reveals how censorship works as a controlling gaze that not only operates from the outside, but is also internalized in the individual, maintaining the doors of the homosexual closet closed from the inside.

Africanist anthropology during Francoism: the Bernardino de Sahagún Institute, 1939-1951

With the creation of the “Bernardino de Sahagún” Institute, anthropology was put at the service of the national-Catholic values that the Francoist regime imposed on all levels of public life in the immediate aftermath of the war. Anthropological research focused on two main issues: scientific-medical issues - anthropobiology - and cultural issues - ethnology. The colonial discourse and the renewed interest in Africanist studies resulted in funding being made available for researchers to visit the African colonies under Spanish jurisdiction to carry out anthropobiological and ethnological studies.

Rural migration and agricultural modernization. An analysis of provincial Spain during its great rural exodus, 1960–1981

Rural exodus in Spain reached its peak in the period between 1960 and 1980. At this time, the Spanish countryside also witnessed its greatest agricultural transformation. Not coincidentally, the end of traditional agriculture and the massive shift of the rural population into industry and services were two major points of the Franco regime’s economic development strategy. In any event, the rate of agricultural modernization in Spain by about 1960 presented substantial differences among the country’s provinces that were to be most affected by both depopulation and de-agrarianization processes. This work analyses the influence of degree of initial agricultural modernization, through several key agricultural features (motorization, irrigation, land consolidation and yields, among others), on the net rural migration rates at provincial level, during the period 1960-1980. The results point to differences in the impact of these variables between the two decades under study, as well as the importance of preceding migration trends.

Francoism, Urban Displacement, and Nostalgia in Flamenco Dance from Seville

AbstractWhile it is often assumed that flamenco is strongly oriented towards the past, thus far, few scholars have explored the roles of flamenco in voicing memories of the Franco dictatorship (1939–75). During the second half of the dictatorship, a series of natural disasters, combined with new economic and political developments, led to the forced displacement of a number of flamenco artists and their wider communities in various Spanish cities. This article will explore how memories of this episode have impacted the flamenco dance repertoire associated with the Triana neighbourhood in Seville, focusing on three interrelated case studies: the performance and documentary filmTriana pura y pura, and recent productions by the flamenco dancers Pastora Galván and Israel Galván. By analysing these performances alongside their historical, social, and institutional contexts, this article conceptualizes the intersections between dance, nostalgia, and festivity as a meaningful scenario of embodied memory in post-Franco Spain.

An Appraisal of the Work of Gustave Le Bon Within the Case Studies of Fascist Spain (1936–1975) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

In a bid to explore the work of French sociologist Gustave Le Bon on dissimulating specific beliefs within a populace, this article will localise the factors he purported to amount to propagandistic success within the case studies of Nazi Germany and fascist Spain. This will be done using a consideration of primary visual sources and qualitative data associated with the campaigns in which they were used. Additionally, this work will analyse whether one can quantify propagandistic success, and whether this is at odds with the academic bases of Le Bon’s work. This research will ultimately provide a novel reading of Le Bon’s theory, demonstrating how the work can indeed allow for interesting analyses of different propagandistic contexts while concluding that there are limitations with the means through which the factors he brought to the fore directly contribute to successful propaganda initiatives.

Social representations on the environment and socio-metabolic regimes: The case of the Spanish state

This article investigates the relationship between the socio-historical representation of the environment and socio-metabolic regimes in the case of the Spanish state. For this purpose, 70 interviews and three focus groups were conducted with different social actors. This qualitative study has been complemented by reconstructing per capita trends in the material footprint. The results show three differentiated regimes. First, before the 1960s, we found an era predominantly characterized by an agricultural economy, and the environment was understood as a source of livelihood. Material use was between 3 and 6 tons/capita/year. After the 1960s, economic modernization started, and natural resources were considered unlimited. The transition from an agrarian to an industrial socio-metabolic regime was inherently linked to a surge in material use per capita. In the 1980s, political modernization began, and the consumption of materials on average is currently between 14 and 27 tons/capita/year. However, when the material footprint has reached the highest amount, the environment is considered a product of economic growth and a post-material value. Post-materialism's historical and social specifics promote a social representation of the environment that hinges on separating lived practices from the environmental impacts these practices have produced. The resulting environmental concern may not benefit the environment. Conclusions highlight a need to rescue social representations of the environment that relate to the environmental impact of lifestyles.

Biases in wind speed measurements due to anemometer changes

This research presents a case study of the biases and discontinuities that were introduced in observed long-term mean wind-speed and gust data-series due to anemometer changes in a meteorological station in northern Spain, operated by the Spanish State Meteorological Agency: San Sebastian-Igueldo. Field and wind-tunnel experiments with predefined conditions have been presented in the literature, however this research uses a real case study to assess the impact of anemometer changes on wind speed measurements due to three factors being: (i) the 3-cup anemometer model (SEAC vs. THIES companies); (ii) sensor height (∼19.95 m vs. ∼20.45 m) and (iii) sensor age (20-years old vs. new). Our results show (a) substantial biases in the measured wind speed and daily peak wind gusts, with the new THIES anemometer reporting stronger surface winds than the old SEAC anemometer; (b) opposing biases under weak (negative) and moderate-strong (positive) winds; and (c) significant breakpoints in the long-term wind data-series, which highlight the importance of data homogenization. National Weather Services and climate assessment groups will benefit from these findings since errors in wind speed and gust measurements can be minimized by implementing systematic observation protocols. Robust anemometer observations provide a basis for accurate quantification of the magnitude of changes and the variability of surface winds.

Soft Power, Modernization, and Security: US Educational Foreign Policy Toward Authoritarian Spain in the Cold War

AbstractCold War strategic priorities led the United States to establish an enduring military alliance with General Francisco Franco's dictatorship in Spain between 1953 and 1975. This article examines the educational diplomacy carried out by the US government during the 1960s and early 1970s to foster Spain's stable modernization through the training of national development elites and the dissemination of US educational ideas. The work surveys US educational, informational, and cultural programs aimed at shaping an educational framework conducive to the expansion and legitimization of a US-oriented socioeconomic liberalization in Spain. On the one hand, this US soft power strategy sought to attract those groups who could play an important role in the capitalist modernization of the educational and economic structures of the Iberian country. On the other hand, it sought to reduce the identification of the United States with Franco's dictatorship and to link the image of the American superpower to the hopes for progress of the Spanish people. All of this was pursued in order to preserve US defensive interests in Spain. The piece also discusses US assistance to the crucial 1970 Spanish General Education Law, which allows us to explore how the US ideology of development and education was received by Spanish educational audiences. Thus, by delving deeper into the intersection between cultural diplomacy, international development, and the history of education, we aim to contribute to the integration of education into the histories of modernization and to deepen our understanding of US educational foreign policy in the Cold War.

‘Facts that are declared proven’: sexual violence, forensic medicine, and the courtroom in early Francoist Spain.

ABSTRACT This article examines the Spanish court system as a site for the secondary victimisation or ‘second rape’ of sexual assault victims under the right-wing, Catholic dictatorship of Francisco Franco in Spain. Medical evidence enjoyed a high level of prestige as a modern and ‘objective’ arbiter of truth in Francoist Spain, precisely because of widespread recognition of the legal system’s corruptible nature. As such, contemporary court records reveal how victims in fact sometimes sought out medical examinations, even before reporting sexual crimes to law enforcement. However, the discretional nature of the Francoist legal system, heavily reliant on character references, allowed investigating judges to exploit the ambiguities of medical evidence to fit their vision of who constituted the legitimate ‘victims’ and ‘perpetrators’ of sexual violence. Medical forensic evidence therefore served an important purpose in Francoist rape trials; this was not the pursuit of justice or reparations for victims, but rather to reinforce conservative, patriarchal societal structures while providing a veneer of legitimacy to an otherwise distrusted legal system.