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At every step, Franco finds himself confronted by the great, silent struggle between the young progressives and the old-guard Falangists, generals and bureaucrats who still control much of the government machinery. Bills to free the press and grant Spaniards freedom of religion and association have all been given official clearance, only to be watered down before passage.
Mass in Catalan. Even so, the focus of freedom is gradually widening. In Asturias last month, when 1,000 striking coal miners ransacked a local police station, the government's answer was to grant them a 20% pay raise. In Barcelona, the government smiled its approval when priests began saying Mass in Catalan—a language long suppressed as subversive.
Along with the liberalization have come indications that Franco, at 72, may be ready at last to tackle the awful problem of what comes after Franco. The first sign appeared last year, when he went before a meeting of Falangist leaders to hint of government changes. Since then, Spain's press has started debating just what sort of government might be adequate—a topic unthinkable in the past. The Falangist newspaper Arriba last month declared: "Spain has matured. We must make a place in our legal and political system for an opposition, which is the essential element of any democracy." When in the past 25 years had a Spanish newspaper used the word "democracy"—much less "opposition"—without contempt?