The use of other languages in the administration was either banned, discouraged or frowned upon depending on the particular circumstances and timing, while the use of names in other languages for newborns was forbidden in 1938, except for foreigners.
The situation evolved from the harshest years of the immediate afterwar (especially the 1940s, also the 1950s) to the relative tolerance of the last years (late 1960s and early 1970s); Franco died in 1975, and his successor Juan Carlos of Spain began the Spanish transition to democracy.
Background
Basque and Catalan nationalism
In both Basque and Catalan nationalism in the early 20th century, language was a central topic and defined both groups national identities, specifically the Basque and Catalan languages, respectively.[1][2] Language was more stressed in Catalan nationalism than Basque nationalism, however, which preferred to stress race and ethnicity over language.[3] Catalan nationalist communities taught their language and culture to immigrant communities in an effort to assimilate them and preserve their national identity, while Basque nationalists were more opposed to immigration in general.[4]
Spanish films were produced only in Spanish. All foreign films were required to be dubbed, and all films originally produced in the languages of autonomous communities were required to be re-issued in Spanish. The dubbing helped the censorship of unacceptable dialogue.
Spanish names and Spanish versions of Catholic and classical names were the only ones allowed. Leftist names like Lenín and regional names like even the CatalanJordi (after Catalonia's patron saint, Saint George) were forbidden and even forcibly replaced in official records. Only Christian names in Spanish were allowed in official documents.
In the first decade of Franco's rule, languages other than Castilian were "confined to private spaces".
In the regime's most radical discourse, languages other than Spanish were often considered "dialects" in the sense of speeches that were not developed enough to be "real languages". Basque was different enough that it could not be taken as a debased form of Spanish but was despised as a rural language of limited currency, unfit for modern discourse. This never happened at the academic level, though.
All these policies became less strict and more permissive as time passed.
Evolution
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The Press Law of Manuel Fraga Iribarne replaced the pre-publication censorship with after-the-fact punishments.
Situation by areas
This section needs expansion with: The section is pretty much meaningless as it does not explain the situation, rather it just lists languages, people and placenames. You can help by adding to it. (September 2008)
Most notably, several sporting organizations—including FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, among others—were forced to change their names from the local language to Spanish.
Joan Manuel Serrat was not allowed to sing La La La in Catalan for the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 since the contest forbid to sing in non-official languages from 1966 to 1973 and, unwilling to sing it in Spanish, was replaced by Massiel, who won the contest.
The nationalist resistance in Spain in partnership with the exiled abroad denounce the repression, censorship and veto of the Francoist regime about public use and printing in Galician language (for example, forbidding the publishing a translation of Martin Heidegger) and other Spanish languages. The protest was taken before the VIII UNESCO Conference at Montevideo in 1954 (when Spain was about to be admitted, and where the Montevideo Resolution was taken), with a 32-page text called Denuncia da perseguizón do idioma galego pol-o Estado Hespañol ("Denounce of the persecution against the Galician language by the Spanish State"), written by Ramón Piñeiro López and distributed to the audience in Galician, English and French. The action was discussed in the book A batalla de Montevideo ("The Montevideo battle") by Alonso Montero and reactivated in claims in the present day.
^"Estatut de Catalunya de 1932" [Statute of Catalonia of 1932] (PDF). gencat.cat (in Catalan). Integral State of the Second Republic. 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
Shabad, Goldie & Gunther, Richard (July 1982). "Language, Nationalism, and Political Conflict in Spain". Comparative Politics. 14 (4). Comparative Politics, Ph.D. Programs in Political Science, City University of New York: 443–477. doi:10.2307/421632. JSTOR421632.
