The publication El franquisme a Girona (Francoism in Girona), edited by the Girona City Council to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the dictator's death, offers a complete analysis of the city under the regime. The collective work examines aspects such as political repression, the ideological construction of the State, the urban planning known as “Gran Gerona,” and the cultural and linguistic impact.
Mayor Lluc Salellas, in the prologue, emphasizes the importance of confronting this past: “Francoism had names, surnames, deeds, and lives throughout the State, and even more so in a capital like Girona. It is good to know this, not only so that history does not repeat itself”.
“"Francoism enjoyed good health in Catalonia."
The coordinator of the work, Lluís Serrano Jiménez, a history doctor from the UdG, addresses the taboo of social accommodation in the introduction. He stresses that the enthusiastic participation of many predominant class families in the dictatorship is an undeniable historical reality, explained partly by the traumatic experience of the war and the guarantee of continuity of the social order.
The volume includes historical images, such as the visit of Carmen Franco Polo, the dictator's daughter, to Girona on Tuesday, May 8, 1973, to inaugurate the flower exhibition. The photograph, captured by Narcís Sans, shows key regime figures like Mayor Ignasi de Ribot and Civil Governor Victorino Anguera Sansó.
Despite its rigor, Mayor Lluc Salellas points out a significant shortcoming: the lack of female voices among the authors, noting that “they also write history”.
