Posted by: Rafael Salido &euro news
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Half a century after his death, Spain’s fascist dictator Francisco Franco still casts a long shadow.
New government data shows more than a fifth of Spaniards now view Franco’s dictatorship favorably, with young people the most likely to think democracy is inferior to authoritarian rule.
The Center for Social Research (CIS) revealed that 21.3% of Spaniards rate the Franco dictatorship era as “good” or “very good.” Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 14.4% said the current democratic system is worse than Franco’s regime, the highest percentage of any age group and an unprecedented number since the survey began in 1979.
“Never in Spain’s history have so many young people questioned democracy,” said Javier Lorente, a political science professor at Rey Juan Carlos University. “It is worrying that some young people are beginning to consider authoritarian options as valid options.”
The findings were published 50 years after Franco’s death, coinciding with the rise of far-right parties and the spread of revisionist discourse on social media.
Not necessarily a boom
Oscar Iglesias, a member of the CIS presidential cabinet, said the data did not show a surge in Francoists. He said only 8.6% said they preferred a dictatorship, adding that most young people “are aware of what Francoism means in terms of repression.”
The survey of more than 4,000 people found that 17.3% think democracy is worse than dictatorship. This is a “significant” minority, Iglesias acknowledged, but not a majority.
“There is a majority democratic consensus in Spanish society,” he said.
According to CIS data, 23.3% of 18-24 year olds intend to vote for the far-right party Vox in the general election, second only to the Socialist Party at 24.6% in the same age group.
Iglesias attributed revisionism to far-right messages that strip away historical context. “They are removing the whole context of oppression and lack of freedom,” he said. “Polarization has accentuated this, and some far-right parties are using it to rally support.”
Social network whitewashing
Lorente said revisionist discourse spreads through a “relevant media ecosystem” beyond Vox’s official communications, including memes and decontextualized content that trivialize the dictatorship.
“Social networks whitewash their authoritarian past through decontextualized narratives,” he said. “Mobile phones eliminate the duplication that existed when families watched TV.”
Artificial intelligence poses further challenges because it allows the creation of realistically faked images and sounds, Lorente added.
Both experts agreed that trivialization through out-of-context memes and videos is contributing to the problem.
Despite the worrying trends, Lorente cautioned against overstating the situation. He pointed out that there is no clear empirical evidence directly linking the growth of social media and the rise of Francoist sentiment.
“Spanish democracy is not threatened immediately, but it always begins at some point,” he said.