1a Semana de Solidaridad con los Presos Comunes
Madrid: Universidad de Complutense Madrid, 1977. Offset. 19 1/2 x 27 1/4 in. Text in Spanish. Very good, with foxing at lower corners and with a 1 in. tear at upper margin. Item #7769
In the years after Franco’s death, the debate over what Spanish democracy should look like took place across every sector of Spanish society, against a backdrop of street violence between neo- and anti-fascists.
A primary site of debate centered around the question of amnesty status for
Franco’s prisoners. While there was agreement that political prisoners should be freed, prisoners’ rights organizations contested the distinction between “political” and “common” prisoners [presos comunes] and argued that the jails—overcrowded, violent,
and squalid—should be emptied. In solidarity with the effort for widespread amnesty, the Spanish student Francisco Javier Álvarez García organized a week of solidarity actions at the Universidad de Complutense, which took place two months following a riot in Madrid’s notorious Carabanchel prison and coincided with an ongoing hunger strike.
With artwork by Antón Patiño, who was also involved in student organizing at the time, the poster is a striking visual artifact from the movement for a just transition from fascism to democracy—and the concomitant prisoners’ rights movement.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this item will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Price: $250.00