The Sobremesa Podcast

• Spanish Football under Franco: Sportswashing Avant la Lettre

  This week we discuss the use of football as a propaganda tool under the Francisco Franco dictatorship, concentrating in particular on the cases of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Eoghan speaks to historian Alejandro Quiroga, author of the book the book ‘Football and National Identities in Spain’. If you like what we are producing and want more, please consider making a donation to our Buy me a coffee page. All contributions help make the podcast financially sustainable. Donate here!

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• Not Such a Soft Dictatorship: Francoism and the Forgotten Repression of Sexual Minorities

  In the later years of Franco’s regime, Spain was beginning to change socially, culturally, and economically. But beneath the surface of so-called “soft dictatorship” the state continued to torture, imprison, and silence those who didn’t fit its moral order and catholic ideology.In this episode, we revisit a conversation with Sonia Cuesta Maniar, a doctoral researcher at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, whose work examines how the Spanish state persecuted gay and trans people during the late Francoist period, turning them into public enemies that threatened the social order of the country.We talk about how the regime used psychiatry, imprisonment, and humiliation as tools of control, and how these acts of violence were justified.Re-released as part of our Francoism series, this episode reminds us that the dictatorship was not the “soft” authoritarianism it’s sometimes remembered as, but a system built on fear, repression, and the erasure of those who lived outside its narrow vision of Spain.The Sobremesa Podcast is completely independent; no ads, no sponsors, just time, research, and a lot of coffee. If you enjoy what we do, consider supporting us through Buy Me a Coffee so we can keep the podcast sustainable.Donate here!

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• Spain, Palestine, and the Politics of Solidarity

  In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, Alan McGuire and Eoghan Gilmartin are joined by Barcelona-based Italian journalist Tiare Gatti Mora. they discuss Spain’s relationship with Palestine and Israel.The conversation explores the political and moral dynamics behind Spain’s arms embargo, its efforts to help stop the genocide in Gaza, and the possible calculations shaping Pedro Sánchez’s stance on Palestine. This, of course, takes into account Spain's membership of NATO, its relationship with the Trump administration and European politics.Later they also compare Spain’s position with Italy’s response to the crisis, reflecting on how both countries’ left movements and governments have engaged with the question of solidarity.This episode offers a deep, timely analysis of how the European left have acted, and what its limitations are, when responding to one of the biggest war crimes of our time.If you want to help make the podcast more sustainable and help us pay for the programs we need to produce the podcast, please consider buying us a beer! The link is ⁠here

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• Catalonia Under Franco: Repression, Co-option, and Resistance

  In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, we explore the complex and often contradictory history of Catalonia under Franco with historian Dr. Andrew Dowling.We unpack how the Francoist regime initially crushed Catalan language and culture, only to later co-opt selective elements for its own purposes — reshaping Catalan identity under authoritarian rule.We also examine the uncomfortable truths of the period: the early support of the Catalan upper class for the Franco regime, and how this changed in the face of growing repression and political decay.As the dictatorship entered its final, violent phase, a surprising alliance emerged — Catalan communists and the Catholic Church working together to organise resistance and push for democratic change.This episode is about memory, identity, collaboration, and struggle — and how Catalonia’s past continues to shape its present.🎙️ Support The Sobremesa PodcastWe love making The Sobremesa Podcast — bringing you deep dives into Spanish politics, culture, and history with voices you might not hear elsewhere.But here’s the truth:We have no external funding.We’re entirely volunteer-run — researching, writing questions, recording, editing, and promoting each episode ourselves.Your support helps us cover the basics:🎧 Recording platforms🎛️ Editing softwareIf you value independent, grassroots media that brings Spain to a wider audience — please consider donating to our Buy us a Coffee page. Even a few euros make a real difference and keep us going.We do this because we care — but we can’t do it alone.Gracias siempre for listening and supporting us.

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• The Spanish Path to Fascism and the Evolution of Franco's Dictatorship

  This week's guest is historian Nicolás Sesma whose book on the francoist dictatorship, ‘Ni Una, Ni Grande, Ni Libre’, was named by El País as one of the top ten books published in Spanish in 2024. The book offers a brilliant re-telling of the four decades of the Francoist regime, placing particular emphasis on how a changing international context impacted its development. It also interrogates and dismantles many of the cliches and received truths around the dictatorship - such as its supposed transformation into a milder or softer dictatorship in its later decades.Nicolás is Professor of Spanish History and Civilization at the Université Grenoble Alpes.If you like what we are producing, please consider donating to out Buy Me a Coffee page: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

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