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Solly Mack

(90,771 posts)
1. I have a cousin who grew up under Franco.
Thu Mar 25, 2021, 05:22 AM
Mar 2021

She married and moved to the U.S. later on.

As a child I was never allowed to ask her about life under Franco because her immediate family wasn't exactly anti-Franco. Her father served under Franco in the Spanish Civil war.

She's nearing 80 now.

My mother thought I would make her uncomfortable with my questions. I asked a lot of questions as a child. I probably did make some people uncomfortable.

I can't see "Generalissimo Franco is still dead" without thinking about all those unanswered questions. A missed opportunity.


Can't stand Dobbs.


DFW

(54,404 posts)
5. I lived in Spain under Franco, too.
Thu Mar 25, 2021, 06:35 AM
Mar 2021

I was just a teenager, and it was nearing the end of his rule (late sixties).

Things were a little tense between the locals (I lived in Catalunya) and the immigrants from the rest of Spain. Barcelona was the country's economic powerhouse, which drew people from less prosperous parts. They resented the Catalans for their success, and the Catalans resented them for moving there, but refusing to learn Catalan, which Franco's propaganda had designated a "dialect." Never mind that written texts in Catalan pre-date the earliest texts in Castilian--what today is also called "Spanish"--by about 100 years.

Outside of occasional trips to Madrid and frequent trips to Barcelona, I haven't been to other regions in Spain in decades. However, Franco is definitely NOT mourned where I travel. All the streets that he renamed after himself and the fascist "heroes" that helped him get to power have now returned to their original names, and in Barcelona, they again start with "Passeig," "Carrer" and "Avinguda" instead of the old Castilian "Paseo," "Calle" and "Avenida."

Solly Mack

(90,771 posts)
7. Madrid and Valencia, for my cousin. Never sure what order. I know they moved a few years after
Thu Mar 25, 2021, 07:02 AM
Mar 2021

she was born. I caught a little bit about her childhood but it was never anything political.

I know she spent a lot of time at the beach, so probably from Madrid to Valencia. She loves the water and talked about outings with her family. Usually without their father. He was always off somewhere doing something important - that's how she made it sound anyway.

Here in America she lives on the East coast, a stone's throw from the ocean.

She's got nearly 23 years on me. Changed how I could approach her. I thought her marvelous - but I never felt completely comfortable with her because I had so many questions for her. Those questions were like a wall between us.

Did it all seem normal to you? Were there things you didn't pay attention to or did but kept those questions for home?

So fascinating! You've lead an incredibly interesting life!



DFW

(54,404 posts)
8. I know people whose lives by comparison make mine seem like an oak tree, never budging
Thu Mar 25, 2021, 11:00 AM
Mar 2021

It's all relative, I guess.

By the way, Valencia speaks a version of Catalan known as "Valencià." It's distinct from the version spoken in Barcelona, but completely mutually intelligible to other Catalan speakers. During the time I was there, there was a folk singer just known by his first name, Raimon (equivalent to the Castilian Ramón). Songs with political content in Catalan were mostly forbidden from public shows and festivals, but Franco's government had declared, quite on their own, that Valencia was outside of Catalunya, and therefore didn't speak Catalan. Raimon had a song, in Valencian (i.e. Catalan), called "Ahir," or "Yesterday," but popularly known by its refrain, "Diguem No," which means "Let's say no" in Catalan. It was clearly a protest song against the government, but since he was from Valencia, well it couldn't POSSIBLY be in Catalan, could it? Needless to say, the song festival officials got in big trouble afterwards for allowing it, and instead of remaining an obscure song by an obscure folk singer, it became a protest anthem of the Catalans. Raimon was still making a living singing it decades after his voice had faded and his relevance should have, just because he had been made so famous after this one incident.

Like with our Republicans, if a government is going to lie to its people, that's one thing. If a government is going to lie to its people and then start believing its own lies out of pure intellectual laziness or plain stupidity, they will trip over themselves again and again.

hlthe2b

(102,292 posts)
6. Haven't even thought about him in weeks. Blissful. Now take Pirro, Bartiromo, Putz Carlson off.
Thu Mar 25, 2021, 07:00 AM
Mar 2021

Hannity, Laura and that entire crowd of lying cretins.

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