Spanish culture from Franco to Rosalía: a half-century survey

This article, part of elDiario.es's '50 años de libertad' magazine, offers a wandering and capricious itinerary through half a century of Spanish culture, from Carmen Martín Gaite, Pedro Almodóvar, and Héroes del Silencio to Rosalía, 'El Ministerio del tiempo', Los Javis, Marta Sanz, Javier Cercas, and Elisabeth Duval. It critiques the common pathology among intellectual elites of mythologizing the past, particularly regarding the Spanish Transition, which they now view as exuberant, dialogic, peaceful, demanding, and enduring. In reality, the protagonists of the Transition saw it as dark and uncertain at the time, believing post-Francoist Spanish culture was entering a period of decline.