The Beatles in Spain: The Contribution of Beat Music and Ye-yés to the (Subtle) Musical, Cultural and Political Openness of General Franco’s Regime in the 1960s

From the late 1950s and throughout 1960s, impact of American twist rock’n’roll British beat music, Eurovision Song Contest, considerable growth national record industry, number radio stations (still timid) deployment nationwide TV gave rise in Spain to development ye-yé fashion amongst young Spanish population. This was accompanied by a mild feeling rebellion critical spirit against traditional conservative/Catholic status quo conventional mores previous generation. Indeed, from 1964-65 onwards dozens Beatle-like bands imitated Beatles’ rhythms, language, image, poses, song lyrics. The two live performances Beatles Madrid Barcelona 1965 disseminated their popularity even further Franco’s Spain. English became lingua franca modernity, international tourism new musical genres. In this Anglophile context, Beatlemania exert relatively gentle influence on social political scenario decade contributed preparing path country’s democratization 1970s.