The political relations between Spain and Italy, so narrow in the past, have crossed – throughout the 20th century – very different phases. Almost non-existent until 1931, with the arrival of the Spanish Republic and, above all, with the outbreak of the Civil War and the victory of the insurrectionists, they intensified to the point of becoming a fundamental axis of the foreign policy of both countries. However, the catastrophe of Italian weapons in World War II, and the international repositioning of Franco’s regime on the occasion of the victory of the Allies, determined a new distance between the two countries, which was not recovered until return of democracy in the Iberian Peninsula.
For these reasons, we consider that the months that elapse between the Italian armistice of September 1943 and the final defeat of fascism in May 1945 are extremely important in order to study the history of these political relations. In addition to being key months for Italy (which, going through a civil war, establish the foundations of the future democratic State), as for Spain (which is forced to survive, both interior and exterior changes) It is precisely in this time interval when the distance we talked about previously occurs.
The analysis of the press (both newspapers and magazines) constitutes, in our opinion, a means of fundamental importance to analyze this change in the relations between the two countries. A faithful mirror of the Franco regime, which controlled it rigidly, and – as has been emphasized by many historians – very little inclined to abandon their fascist sympathies, despite the pressure of the same foreign minister, the Francoist press is a basic instrument to follow, day after day, the evolution of the same Spanish regime regarding Italian events and to see how Spain was positioned against the reconstruction of fascism in central and northern Italy after the armistice and the liberation of Mussolini. Through a detailed study of seven newspapers and two magazines, different for geographic location and ideological affiliation (La Vanguardia, ABC, El Correu Català, Diari de Barcelona, Ja, Above, Informaciones, Món, L’Espanyol), we have managed to make a scheme that allows us to show differences and affinities between the publications, as well as the many Spanish uncertainties regarding the forced “turn” in foreign policy.
