Thursday 9 July 2009

Verano 1975

Summer 1975.

Once again I am shocked by Cuentame.

In 1975 I had been married to my first husband for 2 years and there was just another 2 years to go before the birth of my daughter. I was living in that self-absorbed way that you do in your youth when the whole of your life revolves around your own little world and the biggest problems in your life are coming to terms with being married and coping with all the financial problems of having your first mortgage!

Meanwhile not so far away in Spain normal people were being rounded up and thrown in prison; interrogated or shot – for being accused of being Communists. Daily lists of people arrested or executed were being broadcast on the radio and people were living in fear.

How come I didn’t know; after all I was 21 years old.

Was I blind and deaf to any news of what was happening so close to home? Or was it simply that news was not leaking out from Spain. Or even worse, did the British government just not care?

Does ignorance of a fact give you a valid excuse not to feel ashamed! Well I do feel ashamed…

1 comment:

Bigastroandbeyond said...

Now we live in Spain and watch Euronews on Digital Plus, we get to hear a lot more about what is happening in Europe than we ever did in Britain.

It seems that globalisation does not always extend to the news.