Iberian punk, cultural metamorphoses, and artistic differences in the post-Salazar and post-Franco eras

Abstract

This chapter presents, analyzes and understands the importance of punk in southern Europe, specifically in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain), in consolidating cultural, artistic, and musical changes after the long European dictatorships of Salazar (known as Estado Novo) in Portugal, and Franco (known as Franquismo) in Spain. Demonstrating the similarities and differences between the two countries, it seeks to elucidate the singularities of this sociohistorical context in each country. The approach has three focal points: (1) the importance of punk manifestations in the development of youth (sub)cultures, including forms of production and consumption of music, fashion, aesthetics, leisure, the night, and cosmopolitism; (2) the singularity of punk manifestations in Portugal and Spain, and related resistance practices in terms of their correlation with social, political, and economic development in a country outside the Anglo-American context; and (3) the embedding of a DIY ethos and the associated claim to authenticity in the professions and careers in which Iberian punks engage today.