Whatever happened to Francoist socialization? Spaniards' values and patterns of cultural consumption in the post-dictatorial period

Francoism had nearly four decades in which to try to inculcate Spaniards with a set of values suited to upholding its regime. For this purpose it had numerous sources of socialization at its disposal, as well as control of the media. This article aims to examine the legacies of this socializing process by reviewing not only the main features of the political culture of Spaniards, but also their patterns of cultural consumption regarding cinema and books. The later is a source of information that tends to be overlooked in political science literature, yet it may be useful in helping to unravel the predominant system of values at any given time. If the dictatorship managed to socialize a significant proportion of Spanish citizens, then this should also be reflected in the type of cultural products most favourably received after Franco's death. Although this article confirms the existence of a number of cultural traits inherited from the dictatorship, it also demonstrates the unconditional support which the vast majority of citizens give to democracy. To the extent that the main aim of Francoist indoctrination was to avoid democratic values to permeate Spanish political culture, we can confirm its failure. However, more subtle aspects - derived from Francoist socialization - may be negatively affecting the quality of democracy in Spain. Some of these are reflected in the delay at providing adequate redress to the victims of the dictatorship.