Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

A native of Madrid, Batres was born in 1951 to a Communist father and a Catholic mother. His early recollections of life under Franco include experiencing physical punishment for not going to mass, as well as seeing some people go hungry and suffer other deprivations, though he never lacked food himself. His political activism began in his teen years when he joined the Juventudes Comunistas. Batres describes his involvement in anti-Franco street protests, the distribution of propaganda, and the making of Molotov cocktails at home. He participated in a botched attempt to burn down a Coca-Cola bottling plant in the early 1970s. Batres paints a detailed picture of the clandestine yet egalatarian nature of the Communist organization in Spain during the 1960s. He was first detained by police at the age of 15 in 1967 following his participation in a Madrid demonstration. Batres endured numerous detentions and interrogrations by police, culminating in a four-year prison sentence in 1972. He was first incarcerated at Carabanchel, but was later transferred to Segovia and another prison. He describes conditions in the prisons, comparing how political prisoners were treated at the various institutions. Released in 1975, Batres returned to his previous job with an insurance company, and later studied law and became a practicing lawyer. He comments on the attempted military coup of February 23, 1981 (23F). Toward the end of the interview Batres shares futher recollections of his early political activity, as well as personal experiences under the Franco regime. Finally, Batres critiques the transition period of the late 1970s and suggests Spanish society has retrogressed in some ways since Franco's death; he cites the proliferation of corruption, weakened protections for workers, and a reactionary church as examples of this retrogression