One Dish Meal

The Spanish Civil War engaged people many countries around the world. In Argentina, which had a large population of immigrants from Spain, the impact of the conflict was so powerful that, almost immediately, large segments of the populations backed one of the two sides. 

A Buenos Aires section of the Falange Española was created in August 1936 with the aim of contributing to the rebels’ war effort. In addition to sending money, food, clothing, and even volunteer fighters to the rebels, the organization maintained a busy calendar of public events intended to publicize their cause and win new supporters. The most frequent were masses and “one dish meals” (platos únicos). They originated in Nazi Germany as a way of raising money and were introduced into rebel Spain in October 1936. People payed the price of a full meal but received only a single dish, with the difference being used for charitable activities.  

The “one dish meal” arrived in Argentina in early 1937. This propaganda poster announcing the October 1937 edition was published in the Falange’s weekly paper, Falange Española. 

For the rebels’ Argentinian supporters, the celebration of 12 October, the date Columbus arrived in the Americas, was more important than any other commemoration. Adopted by both liberal and conservative Spanish intellectuals, it recovered the American dimension of Spanish nationalism and resonated with historical references to “discovery”, conquest, evangelization, the imperial past, and immigration. 

The lunch held on 12 October 1937 celebrated the “Day of the Race”,  a holiday created in 1913, as Spanish epic but even more for the influence this had had on the peoples of the Americas and, above all, on the national identity of Argentina. Overall, it sought to symbolically recover Spain’s imperial ascendance over Latin America. Among the attendees were Franco’s official representative in Argentina, Juan Pablo de Lojendio, Argentinian senator Matías Sánchez Sorondo, and two Spanish Falangists who were on a propaganda tour of South America. As was usually the case with these events, there were many people in uniform and songs and speeches that were broadcast over the radio.