08 August, 2019 - 29 September, 2019
Palacete del Embarcadero, Santander
Curated: Archivo Lafuente

La Transición, the transition to democracy, is, without a doubt, one of the most important moments of the Spanish history of the 20th century, a period of great complexity in which a slow, agreed political and legal process occurred and by which Spain ceased being a dictatorship to transform —with the Constitution of 1978 as the supreme regulation, into a democratic regime in the form of a parliamentary monarchy under the reign of Juan Carlos I.

Little more than 40 years have passed from the beginning of La Transición and, until a recent past, that stage was considered an unquestionable success in which played a decisive role several factors. Among them were the social change, the follow-up of the reformist channel, the commitment to consensus and reconciliation, the role of the Crown, the understanding of the political class and the foreign context.

Nevertheless, nowadays there are historiographic proposals and different approaches in the political sphere that question the success of the Spanish transition and propose a critical revision of its history, putting the spotlight on its shadows and weaknesses.

A few months after the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Constitución of 1978, Archivo Lafuente (together with the Autoridad Portuaria de Santander and Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo) shows a selection of photography about La Transición that is part of several of its fonds, where the fond Tino Calabuig stands out because of its contribution. The other fonds of Archivo Lafuente, to where the displayed images belong, are Ajoblanco - Pepe Ribas, Jordi Socías, Cúpula Venus - Joan Estrada, Miguel Logroño, Nazario, Alberto Corazón and El Cubri. Besides the contribution of the Archivo, it must be remarked the special contribution of Agencia Efe and Marisa Flórez, who has lent some of her emblematic images for this exhibition.

In “Secuencias de la Transición” –organized in five big blocks: “La calle en marcha”, “La matanza de Atocha”, “La hora de la política”, “Los días más negros” and “Tiempo de cambios”–, photographies have being treated as if they were frames of a film. The intention is to offer a panoramic approach to the complexity of that moment of our history, focusing on some of its protagonists, on certain relevant events, on the conflict and violence of these days, and over all, on the Spanish society as the main character of that historical process that today still marks our present.