In 1974, Los Payasos de la Tele released one of their greatest musical hits, The Days of the Week, a song in which an unfortunate girl could not play any day because she had to iron, clean, wash, sew, sweep, cook and pray, successively. . That was the Spain that a few months later celebrated the International Women’s Year following the call of the United Nations, which that same year held the first World Conference on Women in Mexico City.
The objective of the call was to “examine, evaluate and recommend measures and priorities to achieve equality between men and women and the full integration of women in all sectors of national life”, as contained in the declaration of principles of the National Organizing Commission, chaired by Pilar Primo de Rivera, in turn president of the Women’s Section of Falange.
Carmen Polo, the leader’s wife, participated in the opening ceremony, which was held in February; Princess Sofia, Carlos Arias Navarro, President of the Government; Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel, president of the Cortes, and Pilar Primo de Rivera herself.
After celebrating the International Women’s Congress in 1970, the women’s organization of the Movement was in charge of organizing the activities that were part of this new supposedly feminist celebration throughout Spain.
The complete official program included more than half a thousand conferences on “topics of interest to women” distributed throughout Spain, in addition to a hundred exhibitions and as many workshops and conferences, theatrical performances, painting competitions, literature and crafts and even women’s sports competitions.
A program that competed to a clear advantage with the parallel and semi-clandestine activities – when not openly illegal – of the feminist groups grouped around the Coordinator of Women’s Organizations and Groups of Spain, which culminated that same year – in December, after the death by Francisco Franco – the first Women’s Liberation Days, held in Madrid.
Ignored by a large part of the Spanish population, as revealed by surveys organized by the Institute of Public Opinion –predecessor of the current Center for Sociological Research– before and after the official program of activities, the International Women’s Year served at least to Government undertook the reform of the Civil Code that put an end to marital leave, among other clearly discriminatory articles that dated back to 1889.
However, this supposed fight for equality had some delirious episodes, such as the vindication of the Santa Águeda Festival in the Segovian municipality of Zamarramala, when a woman was elected mayor. The Ministry of Information and Tourism did not hesitate to publish a poster with the image of the accidental mayor dressed in the regional costume to invite foreigners to visit that new Spain in which women also exercised power.
The ministerial officials were not unchained, since these opinion studies made it clear that, for the most part, Spanish society was fully aware of the inequality between men and women and asked for measures to alleviate it, although it did not accept that women had a prominent role in public representation.
In fact, in the survey carried out in December 1975 on a universe of 1,244 people of different sexes and social status from Madrid, Barcelona and Seville, it was pointed out how only a residual 4.3% of those surveyed would prefer to vote for a woman in a “ possible elections”, which would end up being called a few months later, even though more than 69.9% indicated that what was important was the program.
In the same way, the majority (47.1%) did not want a woman in the Head of State. There were fewer, although significant, those who did not want a female president of the Government (44.8%), and 35.1% who did not see a woman as a minister. The mayors did seem acceptable: 65.0% were already happy with a woman leading their city council compared to 27.6% who still did not see it clear that a woman would lead the municipal plenary sessions.
Both before and after the celebration of International Women’s Year, the majority of those interviewed recognized that inequality existed between men and women in all areas (work, political and civil), and only 15.0% in the first survey and 19.6% in the second indicated that there was no longer any female discrimination.
Between 87.1% and 88% were clear that men and women must be equal before the law and 91.0% and 91.1% considered that the State should guarantee this equality. Education, social services and the promotion of “non-traditional” occupations for women emerged as the solution seen by the vast majority – above 70% in all cases and in some above 90% – to reach that longed-for equality.
Of course, to order, for the moment the mayor of Zamarramala would do it.