El mito de la transición pacífica

The transition occupies a prominent place in the Spanish imagination. Positive reversal of the tragedy represented by the Civil War, the transition has become the founding myth of the new Spain that emerged from the Franco regime. Promoted abroad as a model to emulate, much of the myth is based on the idea that it was free from political violence, that there was hardly any bloodshed. But was the transition as peaceful as intended? Based on a huge amount of unpublished data, this definitive study reveals the cycle of violence that, far from being the sole and exclusive fault of ETA, can be attributed both to radicals of all kinds and to members of the forces and security forces of the State on occasions more in favor of unleashing repression than of serving the nascent democracy. This book explores, in addition to the motivations and practices of all the actors involved in the violence, the reform of the Francoist repressive system, affected by the use of torture or the "dirty war" against growing terrorism. Sophie Baby also studies, with masterful expertise, the weight of political and social imaginaries in a Spain traumatized by a painful past of loss and repression that reactivates the use of violence. In this way, by placing violence and its memory at the center of the analysis, the author constructs a new interpretation of this crucial period in the history of Spain.