Street performance marks Spain’s democracy campaigners 50 years after Franco

In Madrid, a unique street performance brought Spain’s recent history back to life as the country marks 50 years since the end of Franco’s dictatorship.

A group of amateur actors from the social theatre collective La Rueda gathered at the Complutense University to reenact the student movement of the 1970s, which demanded democracy and greater freedoms during the final years of Franco’s rule.

Wearing clothing inspired by the mid-seventies, the performers marched from the faculties of medicine and chemistry toward the history and geography departments.

Universities across Spain were key protest hubs during the dictatorship’s final years, with frequent clashes between students and police. This reenactment aimed to honor those campaigners and remind younger generations of the role student activism played in Spain’s transition to democracy.