Yes, Franco was the ruler, and we were very conscious of that. Guardia Civil was quite conspicuous. In a way this was intimidating (we were careful about what we said in public) and in a way it was reassuring. We were two women traveling and the joke was that crime was really low under Franco.
Thank you for your comment. I loved Spain. I still do, though I will never go back (those travel days are over), my granddaughter will be in Barcelona in a few days. I think her planned visit to Spain brought back memories and prompted this post.
I look forward to blogging in Silver Bloggers, and to reading other blogs. It's a great community.