"The Exhumation of Mass Graves Has Come Too Late"

Comic artist Paco Roca (Valencia, 56 years old) has made memory and the study of the past his obsession, the axis around which almost all his comics revolve. The author of 'The Furrows of Chance', 'The Abyss of Oblivion', 'Wrinkles', or 'Return to Eden' starts from the premise that what is forgotten never existed. Hence, the recovery of identity, family, sentimental, and historical memory is the 'leitmotif' of his work. To fight against the devastating effects of amnesia, the Cervantes Institute dedicates an exhibition, 'Memory. Emotional Journey through the Comics of Paco Roca', to the illustrator, showcasing more than 70 pieces ranging from the silenced history of Spanish exiles to diseases like Alzheimer's.

-Do you see your work as a plea against oblivion?

-I believe so. For me, memory is a great character. Everything we are will be forgotten, both individually and collectively. One of the dangers we see is when we apply this to our recent memory: oblivion leads to manipulation and politicization of the past.

-What has gone wrong for part of the Spanish youth to see Franco's dictatorship as something admirable?

-Partly, it is due to the forgetfulness we have carried. Not knowing the past allows anyone to reinterpret it. Today, we see people - even political parties - saying that the dictatorship was a time of progress, that there was a 'soft dictatorship'. But if the dictatorship was not harmful, why do we have a democracy? Forgetting the past is a danger.

-Is misinformation a powerful weapon?

-When misinformation reigns, anything goes, and certain groups take advantage of this to manipulate history and, in some way, attack democratic values. It is already visible in surveys: there are young people who, not seeing democracy as a way to achieve their life expectations, would be willing to sacrifice freedoms in exchange for basic guarantees.

-Was it a mistake during the Transition to appeal to bury the past to achieve reconciliation between the two Spains?

-At that time, they did what they could. To achieve democracy, it was necessary to coexist with the dictatorship because many key figures - parties, leaders, elites - came from the Franco regime. It was a necessary concession. But it is also true that much time has passed since then. For example, the Historical Memory Law did not arrive until 2007, it took a long time. And issues like the exhumation of mass graves have come very late.

-Are you concerned about revisionism?

-From an academic and historiographical point of view, there is no revisionism; it is perfectly clear who are serious historians and who are not. The real danger lies in the discourse of a politician who manipulates the past or a journalist who says anything at a given moment. But where historical essays do not reach, a comic, a novel, or a film does.

-And in such polarized times, have you faced attempts at cancellation?

-There are always comments from people who do not read my works and judge me for things I have not even done. For example, with 'The Abyss of Oblivion', I was reproached for not talking about republican repression, which is not true. They have tried to place me in a space of political propaganda from which I precisely try to escape. I seek to reflect broadly, without submitting to any party. I do not seek to indoctrinate but to provoke thought.

-Why is it so difficult to reach a consensus on the Civil War?

-I think it was Gervasio Sánchez who said that it takes several generations to overcome a war trauma or a dictatorship. And in Spain, that moment has not yet arrived. Perhaps in 50 or 60 years, we will be ashamed of the archives with the statements that some politicians make today about the Civil War and the dictatorship. It will be like talking about the Carlist Wars.

-You have delved into family memory. What was your parents' life like?

-Addressing my parents' lives meant reconstructing the history of a part of Spain. They did not live through great dramas, were not persecuted, did not do anything heroic. My father, who was from a lower-middle class, believed in effort and work. My mother never studied; in her environment, only men did, so she was practically illiterate, and that greatly conditioned her worldview. My interest in storytelling comes from her, from her imaginative fantasy. Her conception of life came from movies, the Bible, and the stories she was told.

-Why do you say that whoever controls the past controls the present and the future?

-George Orwell said it. Memory is also a tool of power, so if you control the past, you dominate the present and, therefore, can design the future. The dictatorship did it, fabricating a narrative in which the Second Republic was born from a coup. Hence, the uprising was necessary to stop the reds and restore Catholic values.