Holidays with Franco

Curated by Cristina Masanés.
An idea from Monika Anselment.

In 1951, one million tourists arrived in Spanish territory. In the same year, the first ambassador of the United States also did it. Thus began an alliance between tourism, Francoism and capitalism that continues to this day. For the American geopolitical strategy and for the middle class of central and northern Europe, a cheap paradise of sun and beaches was opening up. For Franco, the manna of tourism brought wealth and modernity. In this way, a productive model was inaugurated that made it possible to extract maximum performance from a few and then take it to tax havens. A model still valid.

This exhibition recovers the gaze of those who, as children, came to enjoy sun and beach tourism, ignoring the social reality of their leisure destination.

In co-production with the Museu de l’Empordà