07-02-2010, 23:54
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 410
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Is that the series when Michael Portillo went back to Salamanca University to trace the footsteps of his father who studied / lectured there. He (M.P.) also travelled and talked about the Civil War and its impact on his family. I believe his father and his uncle fought on opposite sides, as was the case with many Spanish families during the Civil War years.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but if the above is correct it might jog other peoples memory of the series you enquire about.
Of further interest might be the following. I have recently read a few books about the Civil War as part of my general interest in Spain, (not just an interest in Puerto Pollensa), I list these below for you. They make very interesting - but sometime very ‘deep’ - reading.
Also, the father of a Spanish lady I know (who managed to teach me ‘some’ Spanish at night class), was evacuated to Yorkshire from the Bilbao area in Northern Spain in about 1937, he was a child at the time. Lots of Spanish children were evacuated to many different parts of the U.K. to get them away from the atrocities.
The Civil War was a terrible time and split many families. It was also a pre-cursor to the Second World War. General Franco prevailed and Spain was a dictatorship for a many years. The Transition to Democracy took a long time. It finally came about some years after King Juan Carlos came to the throne. Full democracy only came, I believe, in 1976.
Mallorca, although involved, seemingly escaped the main brunt of the war. I haven’t found any particular reference to any major problems in Puerto Pollensa at that time.
The books I have read recently (there are many, many others):
“Ghosts of Spain” – by Giles Tremlett. (Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Spain – quote from BBC History Magazine).
“Guerra” – by Jason Webster (Truly accurate... vivid and perceptive).
“Guernica” – by Dave Bolling (an epic story of love, family and war).
This latter book is a novel, though based on fact, about a family involved in the war in Northern Spain. The likes of Picasso (Re: his famous work “Guernica”) and the Red Barron (a pilot in the Luftwaffe) also make an appearance in the book.
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