How a group of young Italians created an international scandal with their trip to Spain in 1961 to record anti-Franco songs
30 May 2026 at 04:00
Seven young Italians — five men and two women between the ages of 20 and 30, with a spirit of adventure — sparked an international diplomatic conflict with Francisco Franco’s Spain in the early 1960s. They traveled through the country as tourists in 1961, secretly recording popular songs against the regime among the people, and later released two albums and a book. It was primarily the book, Canti della nuova resistenza spagnola: 1939-1961 (Songs of the New Spanish Resistance: 1939-1961) — published in 1962 by the prestigious Turin publishing house Einaudi, where the writer Italo Calvino, a friend of the group, worked — that triggered a major scandal.

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