To mark the 50th anniversary of Francisco Franco’s death, the Museum Europäischer Kulturen (MEK, Museum of European Cultures) will show seven artistic approaches to dealing with the role of mass tourism in Spain during the dictatorship.

The number of democratically governed countries is falling worldwide and autocracies are on the rise. Against this backdrop, the MEK is focusing on a special phenomenon: holiday trips to a dictatorially governed country. Spain has been one of Germany’s favourite travel destinations since the 1960s. Mass tourism to the Mediterranean country began at a time when General Francisco Franco ruled there as a dictator. Franco emerged victorious from the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) and ruled the country until his death, which is being commemorated for the 50th time this year. Spain’s dire economic situation and the population’s poverty forced Franco to abandon his autocratic policies in the late 1950s. He opened the country to tourism, promoted construction of new hotels and investment in infrastructure, and set up state-run tourism offices. The holidaymakers were to bring urgently needed foreign currency into the country. For their part, the visitors appreciated the sun, beaches, low prices, and the apparently authentic, traditional lifestyle of the Spanish. Back home, the travellers shared their positive holiday experiences, thus acting as goodwill ambassadors and diverting attention from the oppression existing in the country.

But were there even opportunities for travellers to Spain to recognise the dictatorship for what it was? Eight artists (Jörg Zimmer, Ulrike Weiss, Stefanie Unruh, Annette Riemann, Tom Theunissen, Christoph Otto, Denys Blacker and Monika Anselment) reflect on the situation at the time and their memories of Francoist and post-Francoist Spain in (multimedia) installations, photographs, collages and performances.

The Vamos a la playa: holdays under Franco exhibition brings together for the first time the two parts of the exhibition, Vacances amb Franco. Els meus estius a l'Espanya franquista (Holidays under Franco: my summers in Francoist Spain), which were shown in 2024 at two Catalan museums, the Museu de l’Empordà (Figueres) and the Bòlit Contemporary Art Center (Girona). The exhibition is based on a call for proposals initiated by Monika Anselment, inviting artists from Western Europe to submit applications for selection by a jury comprised of Anselment and representatives of the two museums mentioned above.