What was life like in Spain 1957?

Answer 1

It was pretty darn nice from an American point of view.

However from a Spanish point of view it was pretty primitive and basically a agrarian society with a very low per capita income. There were no automobiles for most people, more motorcycles, even more bicycles, and a lot of animals. People shared their homes with their livestock. Running water was scarce, and a lot of homes had no electricity. The average wait to have a telephone installed was 10 years. There were working wheelwrights, coopers, farriers, and blacksmiths all over the place.

Gasoline was dispensed from the side of the street from an old fashioned gas pump where you pump the gas up to a graduated glass cylinder, and then dispense it to the vehicle by gravity. There was no refrigeration in retail food stores, much less in homes. Food was all fresh and seasonal.

The only effective Police force in the country was the Guardia Civil. They were universally mistrusted and even feared. They patrolled in pairs and carried long arms (rifles or submachine guns) when on duty. When off duty they lived in a fortified Barracks even if married. When they left the Cuartel (barracks) to shop or go to a movie they alway wore a sidearm and were always in uniform. For the most part they were poorly trained and didn't adhere to any of the niceties that we expect from our law enforcement community. Their Chain of Command completely bypassed all local and provincial authorities and went directly to El Caudillo, Francisco Franco.

It doesn't sound too nice does it? Wrong!

Prices were as low as the income. Franco insured that everyone could work and have an income, even if it meant wheeling a barrel around the city or village and sweeping the gutters with a homemade broom. Trains ran on time and railroad crossings were protected by a barricade lowered manually, day or night, by a family who lived next to the crossing and was paid to watch it. Even the blind could sell the daily lottery, Los Ciegos, to earn an income. If you robbed, killed, stole, raped or otherwise molested the good order of the citizenry the Guardia Civil dealt out their form of rough justice, or held you for trial. For example; If caught with any quantity of marijuana the sentence was 6 years and a day. They didn't know what parole was, and your family had to see that you were properly clothed and fed while in prison. The prison support systems were very primitive. If you were lucky enough to own a car you had to carry spare lamps and the tools to change them. If the Guardia Civil stopped you for a burned out lamp you had the have the where withal to correct the problem. If you didn't have the knowledge or skills to change the bulb, they would do it for you. Heaven help you if you didn't have the where withal the fine was substantial.

What must be remembered is that Spain experienced a Civil War from 1936 to 1939. The victors had been supported by Nazi Germany. After WWII Spain was ostracized by the entire world. They had almost no foreign exchange. They were living in a society that had changed very little in 200 years. President Eisenhower realized that overseas American military base were required to contain the threat of Communism. The result was the opening of relations with Spain with the objective of building air bases and a naval base in Spain. All of a sudden Spain was catapulted into the modern world.

The west decried the brutal Dictatorship of Franco. His own people weren't too happy with him. But nobody seems willing to give him credit for grabbing Spain by the scruff of the neck and dragging it kicking and screaming into the twentieth century. Maybe his method was crude and rough but the outcome he achieved must be admired. Spain transitioned from a primitive country with an Absolute Dictatorship to a modern country with a Constitutional Monarchy. And they did it peacefully!