“I don’t think that today a weekly with such bad slime as The Papus. Although we revive a context of dissatisfaction and disappointment with the political classthere is not an iota of hope for change left late Francoism. The society is extremely polarizedlives in echo chambers and is not able to immerse himself in laughter as a social catharsis of the shortcomings of each side,” he reflects. Maria Iranzo-Cabrera.
Professor of journalism at the University of Valencia, Iranzo-Cabrera has just published The Papus (1973-1987). Information counterpower in the Spanish Transitionan essay in which he analyzes the political context in which that headline emerged and what was his trajectory until his definitive disappearance in 1987 due to economic difficulties. An end too prosaic for a heroic magazine that he had overcome fines, files, kidnappings and threats from the extreme right, which on the afternoon of September 20, 1977 finally materialized.
That day, a couple of guys gave the building’s doorman a briefcase so he could send it to Xavier de Echarri, director of the publication. Before he could fulfill the assignment, The explosive inside the briefcase exploded, causing the death of the goalkeeper and injuries to eighteen other people. Among them, the weekly’s telephone operator, Rosa Lorés, who was pregnant.
“He attempt caused the dismemberment of the greatest success of The Papus, his team. The moment in which Óscar Nebreda, Gin and Ivà left the magazine marked the beginning of the publication decline. The three became angry with the management of the weekly because, on the occasion of the special issue that was released after the bomb, the circulation was increased, when they had demanded that no profits be generated from that tragedy. Although Carlos Navarro, the manager, denies that this increase in circulation occurred, the truth is that The death of Juan Peñalver caused a trauma in the team. On the one hand, the explosives were comparatively much more damaging than what a pencil can communicate; for other, a person had died what they estimated and what I was not the author of those jokes“explains María Iranzo-Cabrera.
All the way up
In the early 1970s, the large publishing houses were located in Barcelona. One of them was ELF Editores, owned by the Godó Group which, in 1972, had sponsored the launch of Barabbasthe satirical sports magazine. Its success was such that the publisher proposed creating a similar publication. Following that assignment, in 1973, Ramón Tosas “Ivà” and Òscar Nebreda devised a magazine based on political satire which they named The PapusIn reference to Papu, a monster that, in the catalan mythologyis dedicated to frighten children.
The name ‘El Papus’ refers to Papu, a monster that, in Catalan mythology, is dedicated to frightening children.
He economic muscle of the Godó Group allowed the launch of the magazine was done in style. In addition to television advertisements starring the Argentine comedian Joe Rígoli, advertisements were inserted in different publications that caused, A month before appearing on newsstands, the magazine already received its first sanctionwhich would be followed by many others, some of which were processed by the military jurisdiction.
“The Papus He suffered two military trials precisely for daring to criticize the military establishment on their covers. The first of them, number 32, pointed to the alleged involvement of the military hierarchy in the corrupt Lockheed plot. The second, number 33, parodied the ex-combatants mutilated in the Civil War in the celebration of the first anniversary of death Franco. We are talking about the year 1976 and that meant to the cartoonists who starred in those covers and papunovels —they themselves loved to dress up and dramatize those parodies—the house arrest and periodic appearance before military courts. Jordi Amorós, who signed as JA, was called to a third military trial between September and October 1977, but it seems that it never took place. It was to take place just days after the bomb briefcase explosion in the editorial officea ‘scare’ that the extreme right planned, upset, precisely, by these criticism of the military“.
They did not want to read that Spanish society was changing, that there was no longer so much interest in politics
Author of ‘The satirical transition. Political humor magazines in Spain (1975-1982)’
Although it is often said that with the attack The Papus moderated his line, Gerardo Vilchesauthor of The satirical transition. Political humor magazines in Spain (1975-1982), denies the oldest. “The criticism of the extreme right and the Ucedista government continued. In fact, it became very radicalized in terms of its vision of the political system and the character of the transition, which they considered little less than a paripé. Although the subsequent competition with Thursday It hurt him a lot, what really happened is that they didn’t want to read that Spanish society was changing, that there was no longer so much interest in politics and that disenchantment had made many people settle in and let go of everything: The progressive was replaced by the passato as a social stereotype symbol of the time.”
From hope to disappointment
As María Iranzo-Cabrera explains in her essay, during the first months of The Papusthe editorial office was a powder keg made up of young people full of hope demanding political changes. The first of all, the end of the Franco regime and, then, the decriminalization of adulteryamnesty, recognition of political parties, Women rights and the LGTBI collective, and the approval of abortion and divorce.
“As they point out in some vignette, They could even tolerate a monarchy in exchange for getting all those freedoms. However, according to The Transition advanced and a pact of silence was established between political partiesnot only was the achievement of the promised change slowed down, but the magazine was even threatened with closure due to its erotic impudence,” comments María Iranzo-Cabrera, who also points out other causes that hindered the viability of The Papus. For example, the incorporation of graphic comedians into conventional newspapers, the appearance of other satirical newspapers and the emergence of general information magazines such as Interview.
The investigative journalism and sensationalism of ‘Interviú’ attracted an important part of the audience of ‘El Papus’
Author of ‘El Papus (1973-1987). Informational counterpower in the Spanish Transition’
“At the time, The Papus allowed citizens to truly know who made up that incipient parliament, revealed the Francoist essence of those who presented themselves as new deputies. To achieve this, he used so much creativity, bad language, everyday language and subliminal messages that he took over the society of that time. However, Interviewwhich went on sale coinciding with the second closing of four months of The Papus, offered the same disclosure as them and, in addition, exclusive information. In the end, his investigative journalism and sensationalism won over an important part of the satirical weekly’s audience,” explains Iranzo-Cabrera who, in addition to that loss of public favor and the consequent decline in salespoints out as the reason for close of The Papus the economic and emotional exhaustion that the legal battle initiated to get the responsible for the attack were convicted. A fight in which neither the PSOE government nor the police nor the judges were precisely in favor of the work.
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In a first sentence, the magistrates of the National Court Bienvenido Guevara, Luis Fernando Martínez and Juan García-Murga They considered that there was no evidence to convict the accused, of whom they went so far as to say that “the only reprehensible thing is having overreaching in the defense of his ideologywhen making explosives to use against people of Marxist ideology”.
Although a second investigating judge, Alfredo Vázquez Rivera, was later appointed to resolve the errors of the first trialthe accused remained uninvestigated, leading to the suspension of Vázquez Rivera at the request of the lawyers of The Papus, although with few consequences. As Carlos Navarro recalled, Vázquez Rivera himself “summoned Xavier de Echarri and me and advised us to forget about pursuing those responsible for the bomb and to declare the State subsidiary responsible. Now I think that we should have accepted the offer.” .