Mass events and the stagecraft of Rebel Power

The rebels’ rapid capture of Galicia meant that its home front would become one of the settings for various experiments in propaganda. The goal was to use a range of mechanisms of pressure and coercion to make clear social support for and adherence to the norms and values of the New State.

The rebel soldiers delegated much of this task to the Falange, which carried it out in collaboration with the new civil authorities and with the blessing of the Catholic Church. In contrast to the class struggle advocated by Marxism and which, as the rebels told it, dominated the parts of the country loyal to the Republic, the New Spain had to demonstrate harmonious cohesion and a strict hierarchy.

The paraphernalia and histrionics of this Spanish version of fascism with Spanish paraphernalia became commonplace during the conflict. The specific characteristics of Galicia meant that most of the events were organized by the mayors and local Falange leaders in rural communities whose small size facilitated strict control over attendance in a context in which fear and the suspicion of being under constant surveillance were permanent parts of daily life.

A new calendar of “national milestones” at which this type of exaltation was the norm was established. 18 July, the Day of the Caudillo (1 October), the Day of the Race (12 October) and the Festival of Unification [of the National Movement] (19 April) were the most important. The photograph shows the 1938 celebration in Santiago de Compostela, when some 15,000 supposed supporters listened as the provincial leader of the National Movement and the mayor of the city delivered speeches from the Pazo de Raxoi, the seat of civil power, in the Obradoiro Square.

GUPC/MCV