4 . Workers ’ occupation of the SEAT car factory in Barcelona on October 18 , 1971 | Photographic collections of the Historical Archive of the CC . OO . of Catalonia
This brings us to the political uses of the past in constructing the narratives around the Spanish “ Transition ”. Its “ rewritings ,” linked to the dichotomy of “ model / counter-model ”, or , seen another way , the “ myth / anti-myth ” dynamic , have prevailed and have not necessarily contributed to a better understanding of the historical significance of that period , which could strengthen democratic values and culture .
In education , the school narrative about the Transition in Spanish secondary and high school textbooks connects it to the paradigm of modernity . In other words , the end of Francoism and the establishment of the democratic regime are confined to a few decisive years , during which Spain ’ s long process of economic , political , social , and cultural modernisation , which began in the 19th century , is said to have inevitably triumphed . This overshadows the violent conflicts of the 20th century . It can be argued that the narrative of the Transition in classrooms is a product of this same historical process and takes on a functional role , aimed at transmitting , in a reconciliatory and uncritical
manner , certain identity values and the exaltation of national unity .
Recently , when reflecting on concepts like memory - both individual and collective - the value of witnesses , reparation , and the question of whether or not to forget , historian Álvarez Junco referred to a “ dirty past ”. In Portugal , the annual celebration of the Carnation Revolution and the condemnation of the Estado Novo reflect a relatively broader consensus on the importance of remembering and learning from a “ dirty past ”. However , in Spain , while the transition to democracy was achieved , “ many things were left unresolved ”, something for which the same author argues that one should “ defend the Transition with reservations , without triumphalism ” ( Álvarez Junco , 2022 ). This is because , in the Spanish case , the struggle for recognition and reparation for the victims of Francoism remains an unfinished issue . After the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero passed the so-called “ Historical Memory Law ”, Law 52 / 2007 , the Spanish authorities , under Mariano Rajoy ’ s government , faced a normative challenge in 2014 regarding democratic memory .
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Observing Memories Issue 8