Fascist Spain’s Institutional Legacy during Spain’s HIV/AIDS Crisis

Focusing on the aftermath of Francisco Franco’s fascist dictatorship in Spain and that country’s transition to democracy (1978-1982), this paper focuses on the anti-queer laws and policies, known as the “La Ley de Vagos y Maleantes,” and how queer people, doctors, and activists confronted the institutional legacy of those laws during the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. While many scholars often think of Europe’s fascist period and the HIV/AIDS crisis quite separately, institutionally, the aftereffects certainly were felt in hospitals, research institutions, and news organizations that were often run by religious organizations and even fascist sympathizers. The paper additionally demonstrates how those institutions were further changed through their interactions and integration into the European Community by the mid-1980s.