Berkley Center

In the four weeks I’ve spent in Madrid, I’ve discovered how much wider and more polarized the Spanish political spectrum is compared to that of the United States. Professors here speak of “two Spains,” two wildly different, zealously defended systems of thinking that boil down simply to the Left and the Right.

On the topic of religion, adherents of the Right desire a Spain united under Catholicism. They support establishing Catholicism as the official religion of the state, and they wish to prohibit dissemination of materials from other faith systems—even other sects of Christianity. In the city that these Rightists envision, Catholic morals would inform every facet of the legislative and judicial process; in their city, non-Catholics would feel like foreigners. Under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, which began in 1939 and ended with his death in 1975, the Rightists enjoyed virtually every item on their political wish list: Franco’s constitution declared Catholicism to be the only true religion, and under the Franco regime all other religions were severely suppressed. Also, movies portraying “immoral” behavior were often censured, and pornographic magazines were prohibited outright.

The ideology of the Left counters the Right’s religious policies in every aspect, recognizing religious plurality and calling for equal freedom for all religions. Though adherents of the Left existed before Franco’s reign (and indeed fought against the infamous fascists during the Spanish Civil War), Leftist propaganda in Spain today often draws upon post-Franco backlash for its energy and support. Evidence of the backlash is all around, from the excessive-by-American-standards public displays of affection (which were forbidden under the Franco regime), to the hastily scrawled graffiti sermons calling for anti-fascism and even communist revolt. In post-Franco Spain, bare-breasted women line the covers of magazines sold in corner shops where they are propped up front and in plain view. Likewise, commercials and advertisements offer plenty of bare skin and sultry invitations to sex—hardly the stuff of traditional Catholic morals. Now, these open displays of sexuality are hardly unique to Spanish society: mention a milk commercial acted out by two naked lovers and Spain would be the first country to come to mind.

Still, the growing support for sexual freedom in Spain takes on a religious/political tone that one can only fully understand in the context of post-Franco backlash. Case in point: last week while walking down the hallway at my university, I noticed a poster arguing for the right to free and easily accessible abortions. It was not a peculiar item to find on a college campus, sure, but its selling technique grabbed me: a young woman lay chest upwards and completely naked, her vagina mostly (though not completely) covered by a Christian cross inside of a circle with a line slashed through it. Scribbled across her stomach was the warning, “Keep your rosaries away from my ovaries.” Again, such politically charged antagonism toward the Catholic Church is bound to be present to some degree in any country where the Church enjoys a significant presence. However, the anti-Catholic sentiments in Spain—especially among younger people—seem to be particularly acute due to the political and emotional baggage of Franco’s policy of imposed Catholicism. I suspect in the coming months I will find evidence of this backlash in several other elements of Spanish society.