"I have no idea. I'd rather Franco die than be there." loose, slack and pendulum"He had to die one way or another." Here's the thing. Raimon's responseOn Wednesday, in response to a question from Helena Garcia Melero in the Everything is movingabout what he did when Franco died. It wasn't the only moment that made the audience laugh, even though he was talking about censorship during the dictatorship. But, really, I suppose that's just how it is: as absurd as it was, humor emerged. The writer and screenwriter Anna Manso, who was on the set, asked him what he would say to young people who downplay what the dictatorship and Francoism represented, and Raimon replied that it wouldn't do much for their parents—"we didn't listen to them either," he said, "when we were young." That's why he suggested it should be explained properly in schools, "where they learn." I was watching on TV, to talk about Mercè Ibarz's latest book, A girl in the city (Anagrama), a chronicle of her arrival in Barcelona (she is from Saidí), at seventeen years old. Raimon's words led me to a passage in the book where I think Ibarz says something important: "I often ask myself how it is that the word dictatorship So little has been heard and written about it in the years since. We say and write postwar period, Francoism, the regime, but dictatorship Not much. The emptiness of this non-word has permeated journalism and literature itself for decades. As if it were a generational word that didn't apply to those born after the seventies. Well, we're doing great. What could that mean? Isn't it even worth thinking about? Of course it is, it's worth thinking about. Once again, the importance of calling things by their name, of using words that have "full" content and a clear meaning.

What's happening today? 50 years since Franco died It is news that support for democracy in Catalonia is at its lowest level since 2012.

Half a century after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, the health of democracy is faltering, and it is no coincidence that social unrest is coinciding with the rise of far-right populist forces, according to a study by the Institute of Political and Social Sciences (ICPS). The survey, presented this Wednesday, explains why support for democracy in Catalonia is at its lowest level since the worst of the economic crisis of this century, in 2012. Specifically, 19.4% of Catalans, nearly one million people, are open to a dictatorial system (up from 10%), 4.9% would prefer a dictatorship at certain times, and 2.6% did not know or did not answer. In 2012, when support was at its highest point, the percentage was 19.7%. In any case, 80% remain loyal to democracybut with a downward trend.

November 20, 1975, is etched in the memory of many citizens. The death of dictator Francisco Franco marked a turning point in Spanish history: shortly afterward, the dictatorship came to an end, and the path to democracy began. Franco's demise also meant the restoration of the Spanish monarchy with Juan Carlos I—untainted by the legacy of the previous monarch, Alfonso XIII—as king. In just under two weeks, the 50th anniversary of the dictator's death will be commemorated, and the Spanish government has prepared a series of events to mark this golden jubilee of freedom. But the emeritus king, who played a prominent role in the Transition, will not participate. Pedro Sánchez's government has decided not to invite him. The announcement to exclude the former monarch from the festivities coincided with the publication in France this week of the memoirs of the emeritus king – who retired to Abu Dhabi five years ago due to the scandals that led to his abdication – in which he defends the Franco regime.

Neoliberalism, an economic doctrine quite alien to Adam Smith's classical liberalism, used Chile as an experimental laboratory. Augusto Pinochet's coup d'état enjoyed the political and military sponsorship of the United States, but in terms of ideology, discounting the typical soldierly and curial mantras, it drew almost exclusively from the so-called Chicago School. That is, from the doctrine formulated by economists such as Friedrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman: the State is a mafia gang, taxes are theft, there is no freedom other than that of the market, solidarity hinders the system, and so on.

Former Madrid President Esperanza Aguirre, out of the political spotlight since 2017, continues to stir up controversy. As she has done on other occasions, she has once again whitewashed the 1936 military coup and has not held back when it comes to defending the dictatorship over a democratic regime like the Second Republic. In an interview with The CountryAguirre acknowledges that Franco's regime imposed "a repressive dictatorship," but says it "allowed the middle class to emerge." "Of course, how would those who had been killed have opportunities to advance? But Spain grew exponentially," she adds, downplaying the repression suffered by all those who fought against fascism.

Last Tuesday, Rumeysa Otzurk, a Turkish student, was detained on the street by plainclothes U.S. federal agents, who handcuffed her on the spot and put her in an unmarked police car. Her "crime" was co-authoring an article critical of Israel in the university newspaper.