A readers experience of Life before and after Franco

Carol lives in the village of Los Belones and is currently working as an interpreter in the La Manga area.

On first meeting Carol Bent–Marshall, you can tell straight away that she has had some sort of formal training in poise and deportment. She sits very straight and has a wonderful air of grace and elegance about her. So it’s no surprise to find that she trained as a dancer at the Royal Academy in London, no less.

Carol has had a very full and interesting life and she is still only in her fifties. With so many stories to tell, it was difficult to concentrate on just one but we wanted to know about her time in Madrid around the time of Franco’s death. Carol had been coming to Spain all of her life as her Parents had a holiday home in Denia. Having danced in shows in the Westend, she decided to travel and the opportunity came for her to work with her troop in Italy. While on holiday in the summer of 1975 at her parent’s house, she went for an interview for a job in Madrid working on shows for Spanish television.

At that time, Spanish women did not have jobs and their place was in the home. “It was the first time I had worked away from my troop” say Carol “It was rare in those days for a young single girl to travel alone but I felt very safe”. Spanish dancers were usually only trained in flamenco and classical dance. Therefore, all the modern or showgirl jobs went to foreign girls. Eighty five percent of the work force was suppose to be Spanish but the problem was all the dancers had to be tall, so often it worked the other way.

The censorship was very strict throughout Spain, on the television, radio and newspapers and also in entertainment in the theatres. Every show was strictly censored before it could go ahead and Carol’s television programme was no exception. Although bikinis could be worn, they had to have enough material so that the belly buttons was not on show. “I remember that the legs of the bikini were cut low and the top of the bikini came right up to the waist” says Carol.

Now in her middle twenties, Carol started working in Madrid around the November 1975 when everyone knew that Franco was ill. The programme, which paid homage to painters, would rehearse for a month to get just one show on air. “We had beautiful costumes made and no expense was spared,” remembers Carol “The material was the best money could buy and were made to fit each dancer individually”. In the theatre world life was good and Carol was given a nine–month contract with holiday pay.

For the Spanish it was not so good. When having parties or family gatherings, groups of no more than eleven people were allowed to meet, as this was thought to be a plot against the government. Freedom of speech was not allowed and the Spanish was very repressed. The government controlled newspapers and radio programmes so no one knew exactly what was going on.

However, Carol felt it was a very safe environment to live in as people lived in fear of the Guardia Civil. “I could walk home from work at the theatre late at night and no one would bother me” says Carol “Can you imagine doing that today at 3am in the middle of Madrid?” She lived one street away from Jose Antonio (named after Franco’s right hand man but later renamed Gran Via) in a typical Madrid apartment.

The fear of disappearing over night was real and everyone towed the line. Franco made sure that everyone had a job and a wage but the pay was very poor with hardly anyone owning a house or car. Each street in Madrid had a Serrano (security guard) who held all the keys to the front door of each apartment building. “On returning to your home, no matter what time of night, you simply clapped your hands,” tells Carol "He would appear to unlock the door for your building and bid you goodnight”.

Carol spoke a little of the language at that time and made friends with two English girls who were married to Spanish men. She also became friends with an American girl who she is still in touch with today. Everyday, they would watch the television in the theatre at the news reports of Franco’s illness. There was an over whelming feeling that he was being keep alive while everyone decided what to do. They seemed to be waiting for a special date. There was also this air of expectancy, as no one really knew how the Spanish would react. Not everyone wanted Franco dead and many Spanish men had helped the Germans in the Second World War and so were pro Nazi. Europe also held their breath, but the change was immediate after his death. ”I remember being shocked at seeing the Playboy magazine suddenly appear on the bottom shelves at the newspaper stands,“ says Carol. “The showgirl dancers suddenly wore fishnet stockings for the first time and stars on their breasts instead of a bikini top!”

Everyone waited for the riots and uproar as King Juan Carlos took over. and while Europe welcomed his Reign, Spain was not so sure. Juan Carlos seemed to others to have his country under control but Spain had found its voice, and the protests started.

Having spent many years in London, Carol was use to people protesting especially around Hyde Park, so she took most of it in her stride. ”However, I was very shocked to see my landlady’s boyfriend,” admits Carol “When ever he visited, he would be dressed in full Nazi costume.”

This became the dress code of the protesters as they marched around with swastikas on their arms, wearing black leather boots, long coats and big gloves. All this uniform type dress could be bought at a certain market area in Madrid and was readily available and is still on sale there today.

On the anniversary of Franco’s birthday a very large protest was held and Carol remembers be shouted at by the Spanish to go home and stay indoors. “They couldn’t believe I was walking around the streets going to work and thought I would get harmed,” says Carol. The students also got in on the act and cars would be set on fire in the streets. “One time I had to divert down an underpass and come out the other side to avoid an upside down burning car” remembers Carol but still she didn’t feel threatened and never at anytime felt she should leave Madrid.

Eventually things settled down and the country began to move forward. Carol found lots of changes in the world of entertainment and it was not all good. Her contract was changed to only one month at a time, which meant her employers did not have to give her holiday pay.

After many happy years on Spanish Television, Carol took a job at La Manga Resort as entertainments manager in 1987 and lived in the area ever since.
Many thanks to Carol for sharing her memories with us, and if you need an interrupter in the La Manga area then you can ring Carol on 616765325