Ignacio Martínez de Pisón: “The Third Spain did not exist for Franco”

We asked Ignacio Martínez de Pisón (Zaragoza, 1960) to summarize his novel ‘Castles of Fire’ (Seix Barral) in one sentence: «It is the story of ordinary people who try to survive in atrocious times». Survival: “Right now a French omelette is much more important than Alexis de Tocqueville.” Atrocity of the times: Madrid, from 1939 -the Year of Franco’s Victory- to 1945, the Victory of the allies. ‘Castles of Fire’ is not another novel about the civil war, but the recreation of the wildest years of the postwar period, warns the author: «We have a lot of bibliography on 36 but very little on what happened after 1 April 39». When reviewing his work, with titles such as ‘The time of women’, ‘Milk teeth’ or ‘El día de mañana’, the writer underlines their Time.news character as a common feature: «In my journey through the Spanish 20th century there was a lack of a piece, which had partially appeared in previous books». In this voluminous novel, Martínez de Pisón describes a six-year term of hunger, black market, physical and moral devastation, repression… ‘Castles of Fire’ is an ambivalent title: «It alludes to the pyrotechnics of the party of a side that will celebrate their victory for a long time and, also, to the warlike fire that devastates everything». Among ruins and famines, the crippled Eloy wanders in his attempts to save his imprisoned brother from the death penalty; Basilio, a university professor in the process of “refining”; Valentín, who camouflages republican “sins” with subservience to the Regime; or the Falangist Matías, who takes advantage of his position to traffic in requisitioned goods. «As a realist writer I do not renounce intrahistory. The lives of ordinary people say more about an era than those of great figures» Imaginary creatures coexist with real personalities. «My idea is the total novel, in which each character involves other characters of different generations and ideologies. As a realist writer I do not renounce intrahistory. The lives of ordinary people say more about an era than those of great figures », he emphasizes. When, according to the verses of Gil de Biedma, “half of Spain occupied the whole of Spain”, the only thing well seen is adhesion, without nuances. The enemy is not tolerated, nor is the lukewarm: «The Third Spain did not exist for Franco», points out Martínez de Pisón and gives Basilio as an example, a literary transcript of thousands of teachers: «Francoism associated them with the Institución Libre de Enseñanza in a time when education had to contribute to a totalitarian project of society. Many hustlers took advantage of the occasion to occupy the positions of the purified teachers. In front of Franco, the maquis and some communists who continue to praise the USSR, which has signed the non-aggression pact with Hitler: «Stalin allied with Nazism, which is Franco’s ally! In Spain, as had happened in France with the Resistance, the maquis was not organized until 1942 to stop being fugitives who lived as bandits in the mountains », he explains. Among the real characters, Serrano Suñer, Arrese and his domesticated Falange; or Ridruejo, the Falangist who does not allow himself to be tamed. And Franco, in the trap, deceiving everyone: “Ridruejo leaves his posts because he sees his fascist revolution betrayed and then evolves towards democracy.” On the other side, an opposition that does not agree when the Regime is on the line for an allied victory that will not meet the expectations of democratic restoration: «The problem of the opposition to Francoism is that it did not have a De Gaulle », sentence. Crimes by the victorious side, and crimes, too, among the communists. Another real character. The author of ‘Castles of Fire’ evokes the murder of Gabriel León Trilla by his own comrades in the Campo de las Calaveras following orders from the leadership of the PCE: «For many years, Trilla’s grandchildren in France believed that their grandfather was killed by them. The Francoists killed… Until a historian tracked them down and told them the truth, that the Party killed him after having slandered him, calling him a deserter or a traitor». Martínez de Pisón dedicated two years, those of confinement, to combining the voices of this choral novel. From his bibliography, he highlights, among other sources: ‘Casi unas memorias’, by Dionisio Ridruejo; ‘Misery and greatness of the Communist Party’, by Gregorio Morán; ‘Madrid 1945. The night of the Four Paths’, by Andrés Trapiello; ‘Heriberto Quiñones and the communist movement in Spain’, by David Ginard i Féron… Indebted to the Madrid realist tradition, the Aragonese man acknowledges the influence of Galdós, Cela or Umbral. MORE INFORMATION news Yes Groundhog Day in the fight against piracy news No Donato Carrisi: “Political correctness and cancellation limit freedom” news Yes Arturo San Agustín: “The new inquisitors of Podemos would ban Sophia Loren’s films” We asked him , by way of conclusion, on the usefulness of the so-called «historical» or «democratic» memory: «Let us hope that the civil war becomes a subject for historians or Literature and not for manipulative politicians». So be it.