Dam construction in Francoist Spain in the 1950s and 1960s: Negotiating the future and the past

Abstract

In the 1950s and 1960s, dams were crucial to governmental campaigns for development, progress, and modernity in many world regions. This article focuses on the local aspects of a particular development scheme, namely, the construction of the Mequinenza Dam in Spain (1955–1964). This case study shows that dams were contested on a local level from the beginning, even within authoritarian contexts like Francoist Spain. It offers a closer look at processes of transformation and contestation in connection with the construction of dams, focusing on the actors, their points of view and arguments. It shows that the cleavages between interest groups that were later dichotomously labeled as strong supporters or opponents of the ideas connected to the dam construction were complex and shifted over time. These findings are relevant today because they show how the notion of development through dam building was controversial per se and challenged from the beginning.