Franco

Current news coverage duly notes Juan Carlos’ pivotal role in encouraging and preserving Spanish democracy in the years following the death of the geriatric dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. But the King is perceived in some quarters within and without Spain as tainted goods: a high-living hunter of Botswanan elephants in the midst of a national economic downturn, a less than uxorious royal spouse, saddled with a Marie Antoinette-esque daughter and larcenous son-in-law. 

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia visiting Emperor Akihito in Japan

CPD Blogger Neal Rosendorf on the recent abdication of King Juan Carlos I, Spanish soft power, democracy and more.

In his recent book, Franco Sells Spain to America: Hollywood, Tourism, and Public Relations as Postwar Spanish Soft Power, Neal M. Rosendorf examines the Franco dictatorship’s use of Hollywood movie productions in Spain, American tourism, and sophisticated public relations program.