The Spanish Press
One of the biggest changes in the society of Spain since the rule of Franco is the freedom of speech of the press. During his time in power all news articles were censored before they went to print and it was forbidden to print any news that would provoke strong official or public reaction.
Regulations were strictly enforced and punishments severe, with pages being removed from publications, editors being fined and whole media offices being closed temporarily (to cause financial problems) if the rules were broken.
Some of the rules were that there was to be no criticism of General Franco, Prince Juan Carlos or the Prime Minister, nothing should provoke the breakdown of national unity, the Succession was not to be mentioned, public order was to be maintained and no reference was to be made to terrorist organisations.
However, in October 1977 a Joint Commission took charge of the main television network (RTVE) and State Radio and ended the state monopoly on news broadcasting and at last the Spanish people were able to read and listen to the real news.