Restoring the Kingdom of Christ: the appropriation of religious and cultural festivals and the construction of the nation under Franco (1936–45)

In the analysis of the consolidation of the dictatorships that emerged in interwar Europe, religious and cultural festivals have received less attention than the political holidays created from scratch to reinforce their symbolic legitimacy. However, popular celebrations served as an effective tool for the transmission of ideology and the creation of spaces of interaction between the state and the people. This article analyses the different ways in which the Franco dictatorship instrumentalized religiosity and religious and cultural festivals during the years that the regime was under construction (1936–45). The study evaluates the extent to which the appropriation and resignification of popular culture and festive rites helped to consolidate the dictatorship and shape the Franco nation, while examining their impact on daily life and highlighting the subjects' capacity for agency in the redefinition of celebrations. Drawing on a perspective that combines social and cultural history and anthropology, the article focuses on the complex relationship between religion and nationalism during the Franco period, observing the materialization of specific policies and discourses in people's lives.