"It took the king six months to utter the word 'democracy'"

Barcelona"Fifty years later, we're taking Franco to Modelo prison; we're doing poetic justice," says historian Andreu Mayayo, who curates the project with fellow historian José Manuel Rua and the UB's Center for International Historical Studies. And after Franco, what? (1965-1975)The exhibition, which can be visited in the former prison in the Eixample district, is a journey through the final years of the dictatorship. It speaks of Franco's agony, but also of what might have happened and the different scenarios envisioned by the anti-Franco movement. At the end, there is a ballot box where visitors can vote among several alternatives: from a Franco regime without Franco to the political and social democracy of the communists, including Catalan third ways, among many other possibilities. When the exhibition closes on July 19, the results will be published.

"We wanted to focus on those who complicated their lives by imagining what everything would be like after Franco," explains Mayayo. The exhibition, promoted by the Barcelona City Council, begins with the execution of three FRAP militants and two ETA members in 1975“Franco held onto power until the very end, murdering opponents,” says Rua. “There was a lot of uncertainty and anxiety because nobody knew what would happen after Franco, and the dictator’s heir, Juan Carlos de Borbón, gave no sign of democratic change. In his inaugural address as king, Juan Carlos I referred to Franco as an exceptional figure in Spanish history and never once uttered the word ‘revolutionary.’” democracy"He didn't do it until six months later in the United States," Rua adds.

The young monarch's first public audience was with the association of former combatants (the coup plotters) of the Civil War. It wasn't very promising. In the streets, however, the citizens made it clear that they didn't want a dictatorship. Laforsa, who mobilized the Baix Llobregat region. A huge image of Francisco Téllez, a member of the CCOO and the PSUC who was brutally tortured after the dictator's death, demonstrates that the Transition was not a party. And humor, which was a way to overcome censorship.

In the fourth gallery, the exhibition is like a vast polling station, showcasing the social and political projects that had been brewing since the 1960s. From the Democratic Military Union to actors like Mario Gas and Enric Majó, there are signs proclaiming: "Catalan actors need and demand work." There are also calls for LGBTQ+ rights and changes within the Church. Similarly, there are attempts that ultimately failed, such as a federation of socialist parties and a federal Spain, or the differences between the Spain desired by those exiled after the dictatorship and the Spain desired by those who had emigrated for economic reasons. And there is no shortage of space for... unveiling"It wasn't women's liberation, but rather a continuation of Francoist repression," Mayayo asserts.

Among the sixty photographs on display is one from 1974 showing Joan Antoni Samaranch, a Francoist politician, businessman, and president of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001, and Rodolfo Martín Villa, former minister and former civil governor of Barcelona, ​​raising his hand in the salute. The then-mayor of Barcelona, ​​Enric Massó, is not. "It wasn't mandatory to do so," Mayayo explains.

Finally, there is a video showing long lines and people crowding into polling stations to vote for the first time in over four decades in the referendum on the Political Reform Law on December 15, 1976. A well-known voter appears: Carmen Polo. "She did have the right to vote," Mayayo affirms. The exhibition wanted to close with a big party, because July 19th marks the 90th anniversary of the failed coup attempt in Barcelona. "We're still not sure what we'll do because it coincides with the World Cup final," says Mayayo.