Franco's final blow to freedom of expression

PalmIt was the final blow to Franco's censorship—the dictator died only a few months later—although it continued during the Transition and until the consolidation of democracy. Fifty years ago, in August 1975, the Mallorcan magazine Court It was seized under a law—the Fraga Law of 1966, named after its author, then-Minister Manuel Fraga—that supposedly granted greater freedom to the media. However, it also provided for repression if they published anything the regime disliked. It was the only case of a Mallorcan publication seized by the dictatorship, and the incident resonated throughout Spain.

The magazine Court It was born in June 1946, in the early days of the dictatorship, and it was closely linked to the historic Palma publishing house of the same name and its owners, the Ferrer family: Miquel Ferrer Sureda was its founder and was still listed as editor in 1975, when that episode occurred. It is well known that Cort is the name of the square in Palma where the Town Hall is located, so the name of the place where civic affairs were debated suited it quite well.

With its ups and downs, Court It represented a rare case of the survival of a non-daily publication in Mallorca, as it lasted four decades. It's impressive to review the names of its editors and contributors over this time: practically a who's who of island journalism at the time.

Of course, in the 1940s, no one could have imagined anything that might even smack of criticism of the establishment. Court began his career with the subtitle Sports and entertainment weeklyThe main protagonist: football, which was already arousing passions. It was obviously written in Spanish, like almost everything published in Mallorca at the time. Its first editor was Joan Bonet Gelabert, a distinguished writer and father of Maria del Mar and Joan Ramon Bonet.

In 1947, Court It became a fortnightly and was edited by Gaspar Sabater Serra, who continued until shortly before the kidnapping in 1975. During this long period, it became a 'society' magazine, in the broadest sense, highlighting news about weddings, coming-out parties and baptisms, which came to occupy eleven of the 32 pages. However, a supplement in Catalan was also published, Grandparents' Treasure, which was quite an achievement in those years.

The change of course

In 1966, in what was intended to be a certain "change of scene" for the dictatorship, the Press Law was passed, promoted by then-Minister Manuel Fraga. For the first time, prior censorship, that is, the requirement for approval before publishing anything, was abolished. But at the same time, it stipulated that if any content "might constitute a crime"—such as criticizing the regime or its leaders—the administration had to notify a judge, who would then order the seizure of the publication. It was a double-edged sword: basically, self-censorship prevailed, that is, treading carefully so as not to incur the wrath of the dictatorship.

However, in those final years of Franco's regime, things were beginning to change. The Mallorca of 1974-75 bore practically no resemblance to that of 1936. The economic crisis of 1973 prompted protests among residents, students, and workers. The dictatorship and its most rigid sector, the "bunker," revolted like a wounded animal. And the press, with its liberal audacity, became a target. Mallorca Diary They suffered three successive attacks in just four months and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the car of their director, Antonio Alemany. Breaking News was the subject of a seizure order, from which he was able to escape by changing a headline on the front page that referred to a thorny issue, but one that everyone was talking about: the succession plans of a dictator who was already on his last legs.

The change of course also came to Court. In January 1975, he had already announced his "aspirations to defend and serve the citizen and to be spokespersons" against injustice. A decidedly more critical tone. The cover and the seven-page dossier of issue 720, the following April, were dedicated to the police arrest of the clandestine leftist militant Antoni Tarabini. In May, Gaspar Sabater was replaced as editor by Pere Bosch Fiol, who was also editor ofBreaking News.

The list of editors and contributors at that time constitutes a first-rate representation of the most restless Mallorcan scene. Just to mention some of the best-known names: Juan Martorell, Juana Serra de Gayeta, Alejandro Ballester, Camilo José Cela Conde, Jaime Corbera, Rafael Gil Mendoza, Mercedes Guaspo, José Melià, Carlos Meneses, Jaime Pomar, Planas Sanmartí, Fernando Porto, Antonio Serra, Javier Vidal Folch and Tarab himself.

Issue 729 of the magazine Court It carried a truly visionary headline about what then seemed the unquestionable goose that laid the golden eggs: "Tourism: grandeur and servitude". The kidnapping took place on the afternoon of August 21. The cause was an article by Josep Melià in his section 'Land of Shipwrecks', entitled 'A Different Summer...'. The absurd circumstance arose that Melià was then a 'procurator' in the Congresses of the Francoist Cortes. In a completely surreal exercise, he repressed himself.

In his article, Melià unreservedly criticized the disastrous civil governor of the time, Carlos de Meer, who had left those hot months marked by a string of prohibitions, some as insane as a classical music concert. And he referred to the "unbuttoned fascists," the most immobile sectors of the dictatorship—like De Meer himself.

The police of the time—the "grey police"—showed up that Thursday afternoon, the 21st, at the workshops on Troncoso Street in Palma where the printing was done. Court, and where they were received by Antoni Frau, the manager. The court clerk informed him of the incident and the reason: "Please hand over the plates of the magazine and the photolithography of Josep Melià's article." The copies still on the premises were seized. Frau had to go to the police station to draft the police report, while the copies that had already been distributed were also seized.

It was Joana Serra de Gayeta, then a member of the editorial board, who informed Josep Melià, the author of the article, about the incident, as she herself recalled half a century later: "Pep, they've seized our magazine." Curiously, this was a cause for joy for her: that peripheral publication became known throughout Spain, and expressions of solidarity arrived from both Mallorca and abroad.

However, the one who was most upset was the editor, Miquel Ferrer. Not in vain, "the responsibility for what was published fell on him," as his son Andreu Ferrer Artigues, who was also a member of the editorial board at the time, points out. The counterpart was the popularity that Court obtained for that unwanted episode.

Joan Martorell, then coordinator of Court, remembers that it was Antoni Frau who told him: "The police came and took everything." What he felt was "indignation," although it was still just another misdeed by the then governor, with his obsession with prohibiting everything. "We lived that period very intensely," he says. "We were doing something against a situation that had to end."

The three Palma newspapers reported the kidnapping the following day, August 22nd. Court. He Balearics titled 'Seizure of Corte magazine – The issue that was supposed to go on sale yesterday afternoon' and indicated the supposed cause: an article by Josep Melià "which referred to certain local events". Mallorca Diary He sent a reporter to Troncoso Street who witnessed "the total withdrawal in one go".

The editor ofBreaking News It was very easy for him to interview its director, Pere Bosch: he was at the next table. Without mincing words, he started by congratulating him: that was a big disappointment, yes, but Court boosted his prestige for an opposition that was increasingly numerous and less silent.In the judgment of a higher court, we have made a mistake."Bosch admitted. But he insisted on his objective:"Make a magazine about Mallorca for Mallorcans".

Afterwards, nothing. "Not a letter, not a single official document" from the Administration. "No trial, no fine," says Andreu Ferrer. Apparently, De Meer was content with preventing anyone from reading that article by Josep Melià, whom he considered a "red" without fault.

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Information prepared from the texts of Arnau Company, Octavio Aguilera, Miquel Payeras and Joan Mas Quetglas, the magazine Court and the newspapers of the time in Mallorca: Breaking News, Mallorca Diary and Balearics.