Posters

This section features two academic posters that analyze the political parties of Spain and the Spanish Memory Laws implemented in the 21st century. The first poster analyzes the different parties of the Spanish government. Before coming to Spain, I didn’t know much about how the parties were structured. I was under the impression that it was still a monarchy and knew nothing about the parliament. Compared to the US, a two-party system, there are multiple parties represented. Spain allows for the creation of new parties, such as VOX in 2024, rather than the traditional two-party system. This allows government officials to be more specific about the policies they support. In the US, far-right conservatives and far-left liberals are represented in their respective parties, but they do not have a designated representative party. Parties like Sumar and VOX give the fringe politicians representation within the parliament. Moving on to the second poster, I analyzed the laws put in place, the Memory Laws, that allow for education about the Franco Regime. I learned that the generation before mine is not as educated about the regime, so the government began to implement education about the regime to remember those affected and educate the younger generations.

In this reflection, I discussed the trials and tribulations of the Spanish Empire. Spain has a rich history that not many people know about. Spain is mainly recognized for Christopher Columbus’ voyage, which was one of the few things that I knew about Spain. However, Spain has so much more history following Christopher Columbus. When researching the Spanish Empire, I learned about the transfers of power, the religious relationships, and the kingdoms of Spain. From what I previously knew, Spain was a happy country that had lived under a monarchy since its existence. I had heard of the Seven Years' War, but I did not realize the impact that it had on Spain. Throughout the Spanish Empire, the colonial power dynamic played a large role in the perception of Spain. Conflicts with Britain and France were persistent during this time, and who ruled over the American territories was one of their biggest qualms. I was completely unaware of the political uncertainty and consistent change in power over the country.

In this reflection, I discussed Spain’s journey toward democracy between the 19th and early 20th century. I didn’t know much about the 19th century in Spain, only a few things about Napoleon, and didn’t know he had any relation to Spain. I learned that throughout the 19th century, Spain continued to go through power struggles as it did during the empire. There were shifts in power throughout the entire century, mainly stemming from Napoleon giving and taking the crown away. Contrary to the US, Spain went through several different constitutions as the powers shifted. The country was in a total state of unrest with political and social conflicts. What stood out to me was how the military was no longer able to trust the government after the continuous shifts, and it ultimately led to a military coup. 

In this document, I reflected on the sites that I visited during my time in Madrid. My knowledge of the structure of the Spanish government was little to none before this trip, but now I feel like I know exactly how it works. The main visits that I felt taught me the most were the Assembly of Madrid and the Congress of Deputies. After these visits, I was able to differentiate the distributions of power within the country. The Assembly of Madrid has members from all parties, working on the policies and legislation for the autonomous community of Madrid. The autonomous communities have some autonomy in their policymaking, but also answer to the Spanish government. This is similar to the states of the US, states have autonomy in most of their policies, but are still required to answer to the Federal government in some cases. Additionally, the Congress of Deputies is part of the legislative government of Spain. They are responsible for creating policies for the country of Spain, similar to the Congress in the United States. 

In this assignment, I watched the movie “Bicycles Are for the Summer”. This assignment required me to think analytically about the movie and reflect on the things that I learned. I felt like the movie truly encompassed the struggles of the everyday family during the time of the Civil War. We learned a lot about the Civil War in class, but mainly touched on the larger events and figures. The movie exemplifies the struggles of a Spanish family, and gives the viewers a real look into what the country looked like during the time. 

These slides are from in-class discussions about Franco as well as the formation of the Communist and Socialist parties, with a differentiation between communism and socialism. I learned a lot about how Franco’s childhood and career path before the dictatorship led to his beliefs moving into the period. His time in Morocco and distrust of the government following the reforms of the military led to his large role in the military Coup d’état. Additionally, I touched on the Communist and Socialist political parties in Spain. The main differences between the two ideologies are that socialists believe in societal ownership and control of production, while communists' sole focus is a classless society.