The Backstory:
Spain

Giles Tremlett

Ghosts of Spain looks back to the more recent wounds of the 20th century—especially the Spanish Civil War and decades of Franco’s dictatorship. Giles Tremlett approaches the topic as someone who has lived among Spaniards for years and grown curious about the stories many people avoid speaking about openly. His book explores the tension of how a modern, vibrant, expressive country carries the weight of a complicated past just beneath the surface. Along the way, Tremlett also dives into everyday culture: why dinners happen so late, what drives regional pride, why flamenco feels so emotional, and how identity shifts from city to city.

James Reston Jr.

Dogs of God dives into one of Spain’s most dramatic turning points: the late 1400s, when the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella united Spain, pushed out the Moors, ordered the expulsion of the Jewish population, and sent Christopher Columbus west across the Atlantic. Reston writes with the pace of a storyteller, showing not only what happened, but why these decisions still echo in Spanish identity today. He paints a vivid picture of a country in the midst of defining itself—full of religious passion, political ambition, military conflict, and cultural brilliance. While the story can be intense, it provides essential context for understanding Spain’s layered past and the roots of its architecture, art, culture, and even regional differences.

Netflix: A 10 part series featuring a doctor who serves the Republican army in the Spanish Civil War. As Franco's fascist regime gains the upper hand in the conflict, Dr. Garcia assumes a new identity to save himself from the wave of recriminations and executions. Forty years of clandestine resistance against Franco's dictatorship spans 2 hemispheres and renders a life of unrelenting tension and fear of discovery. This series captures the long-lasting trauma of a country and its people.

Note: this series contains adult themes including a few scenes of violence and nudity.

Netflix:  The Endless Trench is a movie that relives the ugliness of politics and war during the authoritarian reign of dictator Francisco Franco from 1939 until his death in 1975. One dissident tries to run from Franco's fascist government and discovers that the best place to hide is behind a false wall at home, where he stays for 30 years until amnesty is officially declared. At nearly two-and-a-half hours, the film immerses viewers into the man's anxious and claustrophobic world. The themes are complex, subtle, and mature. The peril of being caught and executed is constant.  Review taken from Common Sense Media.

Note: There is some violence and one sex scene. None of it is gratuitous.