Subnormality under debate: Discourses and policies on intellectual disability during the late Franco regime

Abstract

During the last two decades of the Franco dictatorship, intellectually disabled people became an object of concern on the part of Spanish society and the center of a debate involving the state, the church, certain professional groups and families of those affected. This debate was stoked by ideas circulating in the international setting about the right of the intellectually disabled to integrate into society and enjoy the same opportunities as other individuals. This article seeks to identify the circumstances that led to the emergence of this concern and to note the elements that helped construct the discourses and govern the practices on intellectual disability that developed during the later years of the Franco regime.