Censorship in Spain and Portugal of Spanish Films (1968–1974): A Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Abstract. Through an examination of the censorship reports made by the relevant authorities in Spain and Portugal between 1968 and 1974, I intend to study and compare the way that films from Spain were censored in those two Iberian countries during the last period of their respective dictatorships.

For Portugal, the present investigation is based on a study of the archives of the Secretaria de Estado da Informação e Turismo (SEIT). All the information produced by the Comissão de Exame e Classificação de Espectáculos, the section of SEIT which was responsible for the censorship of films under the Estado Novo, is to be found in the relevant section of the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (ANTT), in Lisbon.

For the Spanish material, the study is based on the Expedientes de censura [censorship files] that can be found in the Archivo General de la Administración, in Alcalá de Henares. For Spain I also draw on the survey and analysis provided by Teodoro González Ballesteros (Aspectos jurídicos de la censura cinematográfica en España. Con especial referencia al período 1936–1977, 1981).

Through an analysis of the censored Spanish filmography in Marcello Caetano’s and Francisco Franco’s time, I aim to contribute to an understanding of the way the Censorship Commissions operated in each country. What, for example, were the most censored topics, thematically? This study may lead to a broader understanding of mentalities in Portuguese and Spanish history.