Early Sunday morning, under a slate-grey sky, Madrileños lined up in silent queues outside a thousand polls in schools and public buildings. In the capital, as all over Falangist Spain, the election of municipal councilmen went on without any of the dash and urgency of truly free elections. There had been no posters, no slogans, no handbills, no last-minute soapbox speeches, no discussions, no parades, no cheers or boos for candidates.
The Franco government had screened and selected all candidates. Voters (i.e., heads of families) were not even free to stay away from the rigged poll. Lest the people express...
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