Podcast Summary: "Acontece que no es poco | Acoso a Unamuno y muerte de Baroja"

Podcast: Todo Concostrina (SER Podcast)
Host: Nieves Concostrina
Episode Date: October 30, 2023
Theme: Examining the final years and deaths of two great Spanish writers, Miguel de Unamuno and Pío Baroja, focusing on their antifascist stances, the manipulation of their legacies by the Franco regime, and the intertwining of literary history and memory.

Overview

This episode of "Acontece que no es poco" dives into the complex relationship between two literary titans, Unamuno and Baroja, and Francoist Spain. Nieves Concostrina uses their intersecting stories to reflect on how dictatorship distorts collective memory, especially regarding figures who embodied resistance to fascism. The program emphasizes the importance of recovering true historical memory, as both men were antifascist intellectuals who refused to be co-opted in death by Francoist narratives.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Uncomfortable Legacy of Unamuno and Baroja (00:54–05:20)

• Concostrina highlights how both Unamuno and Baroja, despite their literary fame, were marginalized or manipulated by the Franco regime due to their open antifascism.
• Both men’s stories intersect on October 30: Baroja died in 1956 and, twenty years earlier, on the same date (1936), began the persecution that led to Unamuno’s death.
• Baroja and Unamuno, both Basque and fiercely independent, “escaped Franco’s control—one in life, one in death” (01:38).
• Concostrina critiques how history books often focus solely on their literary achievements, ignoring their overt political stances and defiance (“De Baroja, sacándolo de la generación del 98, poco se nos ha contado sobre su contundente rechazo al fascismo y su ateísmo también…” – 03:33).
• Quote [03:55]: “Respecto a Unamuno, más grave aún, porque se nos ha hecho creer durante 70 años que este señor era un franquista de libro… y está en las antípodas del fascismo.”

2. Manipulation of Intellectuals’ Memory (05:21–07:58)

• Carla notes the fate of Walter Benjamin as another example of a thinker destroyed by fascism (05:21).
• Concostrina explains how Franco’s Spain colluded with Nazi Germany to capture and deliver political exiles between countries, directly affecting figures like Benjamin and Lluís Companys.
• Quote [06:36]: "La Gestapo podía entrar en España a perseguir y capturar a todo alemán antinazi y a cambio Hitler capturaría y entregaría a Franco para que los pudiera fusilar."
• She recounts Benjamin’s suicide and the manipulation of his death certificate to ensure Christian burial rites—demonstrating the ongoing battle for symbolic control, even over the dead.

3. Pío Baroja's Atheism and His Civil Burial (07:58–10:21)

• Baroja's desire to be buried in Madrid’s civil cemetery was not enforced by the regime as punishment, but was his own explicit wish, a final act of resistance.
• There was a tug-of-war for his remains: “Hasta el último minuto las autoridades culturales franquistas… estuvieron peleando por apropiarse de Pío Baroja para darle cristiana sepultura.” (08:14)
• Unamuno’s death, on the other hand, saw his body “directly seized by the Falangists,” highlighting a practice where the regime tried to posthumously co-opt dissenting voices (08:34).

4. The Difficulties of Fulfilling Baroja’s Wishes (10:21–12:31)

• Concostrina recounts how Baroja’s nephew, Julio Caro Baroja, fiercely defended his uncle’s wishes against Falangist and ecclesiastical pressure.
• Baroja, even on his deathbed, remained defiant: he expelled Falangist officials from his room, reportedly exclaiming, "¿Qué hacen aquí estos disfrazados?" (10:56)
• The Francoist authorities, desperate to claim Baroja, even tried to involve the bishop of Madrid, who refused, saying, “que muera como ha vivido.” (11:22)
• Memorable moment [11:11]: Baroja refused Catholic rites, dying on his own terms, “sin hechiceros católicos ni mamandurrias ni de bendiciones.”

5. Baroja’s Funeral and Symbolic Resistance (12:31–13:25)

• Even at the funeral, a bishop insinuated himself into the proceedings under the guise of cultural authority, as noted in Fernando Morán's memoirs.
• The burial was low-key and stone-sober: “allí sigue Baroja, en el cementerio civil por decisión propia… bajo una lápida de puro granito y sólo está escrito el nombre y las fechas de nacimiento y muerte.” (13:16)
• Quote [13:22], summing up Baroja’s character: “Boina sobria, bufanda austera y tumba discreta, porque murió como vivió.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Unamuno era un señor de derechas que despreciaría ahora las actitudes de la actual derecha, como despreció las actitudes de la derecha de entonces por su desprecio a la libertad, a la cultura y a la educación.” – Nieves Concostrina [04:32]
• Sobre Baroja expulsando a los falangistas: “Fuera, yo no sé, llevarían yugos, flechas, banderitas de España, camisas azules… que se ponen los falangistas que se disfrazan.” – Nieves [10:56]
• Sobre la apropiación de los intelectuales por Franco: “No hay cosa que más le cabreara a Franco que el que se le escaparan de su control los grandes intelectuales. Se ponía de los nervios.” – 08:20
• Sobre la coherencia de Baroja: “De una coherencia insobornable, como lo definió Ortega y Gasset.” – 13:23

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:54–05:20: Contrasting Francoist manipulation of Unamuno and Baroja’s legacies.
• 05:21–07:58: Walter Benjamin’s fate and Spain’s collaboration with Nazi Germany.
• 07:58–10:21: The struggle for Baroja's funeral wishes and the regime’s attempt to appropriate his legacy.
• 10:21–12:31: Julio Caro Baroja’s role and moments of confrontation with Falangists.
• 12:31–13:25: The rain-soaked, modest funeral and Baroja’s final resting place.

Tone and Style

Nieves Concostrina adopts an irreverent, critical tone, rich in anecdote and sarcasm, especially when discussing Francoist Spain and the hypocrisy of its authorities. Her storytelling is direct, witty, and unafraid to expose the absurdities and injustices of history.

Final Takeaway

This episode offers not just biographical details, but a spirited defense of democratic memory, exposing the manipulations of dictatorships over cultural figures and reaffirming the importance of remembering intellectuals as they were—flawed, rebellious, and fiercely independent. The story is to be continued, with a promised in-depth segment on Unamuno in the following episode.