Introduction

Abstract

The day after General Francisco Franco died, the front page of the Spanish daily newspaper ABC printed a photograph of his corpse in a coffin with the headline: “Vivo en la historia” (“Alive in history”; ABC November 21, 1975). Though Franco was dead, he and the war he had started were still very much alive and acting, not just in history, but also in the memory and consciousness of Spaniards. They continue to be so today. After November 20, 1975, the Spanish Civil War would once again be reconceptualized, renarrated, and reconsidered to accommodate a variety of identities and to respond to various historical, political, and social realities.