Gaps Podcast – Cloudy Days

He September 15, 2023, after more than 6 years of fighting in the Spanish courts, and more than 100 lawsuits filed, Julio Pacheco and Rosa García They became the first people to testify before a court for the torture they suffered during the Franco regime. In August 1975, both were tortured at the General Directorate of Security in Madrid by different members of the Political-Social Brigade, the political police of the Franco regime.

Almost 50 years later, her words, which are also those of so many others, They serve to open a breach in the Spanish judicial system.

Julio and Rosa, the first survivors of torture under Franco to testify in a Spanish court

In May 2023, the Justice system admitted the case for processing complaint Julio Pacheco filed a complaint against four members of the Francoist Political and Social Brigade for the torture he suffered at the DGS (General Directorate of Security). The court agreed to take a statement from Julio as the plaintiff, and from Rosa as a witness.

3 key points of the episode

MILITANT CHILDHOOD
At Julio and Rosa's dinner table, antifascism was always a topic of conversation. Both grew up in homes linked to the anti-Franco struggle and began their activism at a very young age, in high school. It was at university where they both found a space to be active, becoming involved in student and neighborhood movements.

IMPACTS OF TORTURE
The two were arrested in 1975 and subsequently tortured by the Political and Social Brigade at the General Directorate of Security (DGS). Both were also imprisoned. After Franco's death, they were released on bail. Following the torture, imprisonment, and separation from their families, and in a highly turbulent and uncertain political context after Franco's death, Julio and Rosa not only had to face the challenge of rebuilding their lives but also of learning to live with the trauma.

COLLECTIVE STRUGGLE
Speaking out comes at a price, and those who break their silence know it all too well. The survivors of the Franco regime who decide to file a lawsuit against those who tortured them know they face a long road ahead, one that requires immense support and strength. Filing a lawsuit not only means confronting your past, but also means facing a justice system that consistently rejects historical memory processes; and it means placing your story in the public eye, which can alter your relationships with those close to you. All this burden can only be borne collectively.