"DESTAPE" IN SPAIN

"DESTAPE" IN SPAIN

After Franco’s death, in 1975, there were a lot of social, political and economic changes in Spain.  Many of those changes produced strong movements, such as “Destape”, a large social movement which revolutionized Spanish society.

“Destape” arose in Spain after Franco’s death, and came about as a result of a search for freedom of expression.  The media such as newspapers, television and the cinema, amongst many other aspects, closely reflected period.

We could assume it is a rather odd movement, but if we analyze it, we could show that it is a clear marker for the changes in Spain and the search for freedom of expression.

This essay will be interesting because it will remark never seen aspects, because it offers two different points of view of this social movement, and also because it is a very relevant period in the history of Spain. 

I have interviewed two people.  The first is Nieves Sánchez, who is a 56 year old lady who lived through the “Destape”, being a young child at the time.  Her parents had a newsstand in the Salamanca district of Madrid, where she also lived.  She is going to tell us about “Destape” from the point of view of her parents’ work.  The second interviewee is Ángel Guerrero, who is a 70 year old man, and at the time of the “Destape” was a young father with a family, and he is going to tell us about his recollections of this time.

In the world of cinema there were two famous actors who starred in many films with the first erotic scenes.  Their names were Andrés Pajares and Fernando Esteso.  This type of film was not pornography; rather it “only” exhibited and showed naked or nearly naked women. The first erotic film by “Pajares and Esteso” as they were known was “Los Bingueros”, directed by Mariano Ozores in 1979. Following this film, they continued their career in these types of films.

In television after the abolition of censorship, in TVE (the Spanish national television channel) from 1962 to 1985, there was a system of rhombus to censor the content of the TV programmes.  In many families rhombus was a key indicator to be able to see or not to see a film or a TV program. The grading was that one rhombus meant “not under 14 years old” and two “rhombus” meant “not under 18 years old”.  In 1964, this was downgraded to its final form: one rhombus meant “over 14 years old” and two rhombuses meant “over 18 years old”.  With the fall of the Franco regime, censorship and the TV programmes’ control decreased, until finally, in 1985, it disappeared altogether.

Nieves, a young newsstand worker, commented that “Destape” in Spain was viewed with a lot of scepticism from older people.  Many Spanish people, most of them men, crossed the Pyrenees to France to watch erotic and pornographic films, when they wre not supposed to go outside the country.  She remembers that many editions of magazines, such as “Playboy”, “Private” or “Interviú” were seized by the government. She remembered one such magazine, where it showed Bibi Anderson (a well known actress) naked riding a Harley Davinson.   

Also, she remarked that the publication of this type of magazines was not accepted by ordinary neighbours. Her neighbourhood, which was Salamanca district in central Madrid, was very traditional, with lots of churches, schools and generally conservative people.  In the end she concluded that overall this social movement was a good thing, which she was satisfied with, because it went a long way towards freedom expression but without being a direct provocation to society in general.

Ángel, the young father of a family, recalls from his perspective that generally men welcomed the freedoms of this social movement, with many of them crossing the border to watch new types of films.  During the interview I asked him about the Spanish erotic films and about “Pajares y Esteso”, and he commented that his family was strict and did not watch erotic films, but in his opinion it was not a bad thing, and it also helped a lot of people understand more about sexual life.  Regarding the films by “Pajares and Esteso”, Ángel says that he and his wife watched it, because the films were mild, and also funny and original.  

As a father of family, I asked him what was his opinion of  the “rombos” system, and if he observed the ratings.  He exclaimed “Yes, I did.  I respected it, for us it was very relevant.” Also he added that amongst the programmes he let his sons watch were “Estudio 1”, theatre or “contests”.  Finally, I asked him about his point of view of “Destape” in general, and he concluded that “Destape” was a very good social movement that helped the growth of the cinema and television in an economic way.

Having listened to those two very different points of view on the same topic, I could remark on the differences between male and female opinions.  Nieves tells that, although in her neighbourhood it was not accepted to show erotic magazines, many of the people who criticized this, mostly men, in fact came alone to her newsstand to buy erotic films.   In addition, Ángel tells that, as he was a porter in a big block of flats, he listened to many conversations about eroticism and famous actresses. He remembers a conversation between two women, they said: “It is a scandal, how many naked women!” and he listened to many men who talked between themselves about naked women or their “long legs”.

As for the evolution of “Destape”, it is important to note that this movement led to many other original films and not just more erotic and more sexual films, in the following years.  It did of course pave the way for more extrovert and explicit films and magazines on the TV and in society.

In summary, this consequence of this social movement introduced a very important aspect, the freedom of expression.  There was of course a huge difference between male and female points of view, with females generally protesting against the eroticism in films which they thought was a bad provocation, whilst males talked about naked women and long legs, welcoming this social movement as a chance to watch this type of films legally.

Finally, I would like to note the huge repercussion that this period had in Spanish society in the decade of the 70’s in terms of way of thinking and on the way to view life in general.

BÁRBARA DOMÍNGUEZ