The Government delegate in La Rioja, Beatriz Arraiz Nalda, presented this morning the events organized on the occasion of the celebration “Spain in Freedom. 50 years”, in collaboration with the Special Commissioner created for the development of this initiative and the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory.
Arraiz Nalda explained that in La Rioja it is planned to address the collective success and benefits that these 50 years of democracy have brought to La Rioja. “In 1975, Spain embarked on a long and complicated road to regain freedom and democracy. Now, we remember the beginning of that collective success,” he said.
In this regard, the delegate recalled that “half a century ago, at a time of great political uncertainty, Spanish society decided to bet on looking to the future and moving forward. Spain decided to undertake a process of political, institutional, social and economic transformation, which triumphed and turned us into the advanced, influential, open and tolerant country that it is today. That’s what we celebrate and claim.”
To this end, different activities will be held that will promote the knowledge of the recent past of Spain, especially the transition from a dictatorship to a democracy.
On the one hand, the delegate has specified that the printing of a commemorative illustration of the Rioja artist Raquel Marín has been planned, which will be included in different products that will be distributed to the general public.
In addition, the book “Franco for young people”, by Erik Martínez Westley and José Antonio Martínez Soler, has been acquired, and The graphic novel “The Abyss of Oblivion”, by the historian Paco Roca and the journalist Rodrigo Terrasa, for distribution in the Secondary Schools of La Rioja and libraries in La Rioja.
On the other hand, Short October joins the initiative: “Spain in Libertad. 50 years” with the programming of three short sessions in rural areas:
- Friday, November 14. 19:30 h. Ventosa. Social Center.
- Friday, November 21st. 19:30 h. Casalarreina. House of Culture La Florida.
- Saturday, November 22, at 19:30 h. Arnedillo. San José Cultural Center.
For Friday, November 14, the University of La Rioja will host a round table on The Transition in Spain, in which the singer-songwriter Víctor Manuel and the journalist and Waves Award 2025 Isaías Lafuente will participate. This space also includes a presentation by the Riojan historian Carlos Gil Andrés and the participation of the Historical Memory Association “La Barranca”.
Also, next Monday, November 17, a round table has been organized at the Superior School of Design of La Rioja (ESDIR), a building that celebrates 100 years of life and emblematic place of democratic memory in Logroño, being one of the four prisons of the city during the Civil War and today is a space for diversity and culture. The round table, aimed at young people, will address aspects such as the improvement of the rights of citizens since 1975. In it will participate the Logroño mathematician Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón, ‘El Chojín’, Spanish rapper of Equatoguinean descent, and the Rioja illustrator Raquel Marín.
“A survey by the CIS in October 2025 indicates that almost 20% of young Spaniards consider the Franco dictatorship to be ‘good’ or ‘very good’. Various factors explain this phenomenon, including disinformation, lack of direct historical knowledge, and the influx of populist and Francoist discourses. Therefore, we want to approach this young people who find it difficult to understand the scale of the change that has occurred in the last 50 years and who know that at the head of Spain was established a repressive dictatorship between 1939 and 1975”, he concluded.