They will look at your last name, check the family history, and you won’t get the job.

When my aunt applied for a position at an agricultural extension office in the early 1970s, my grandfather warned her: “They will look at your last name, check the family history, and you won’t get the job.” His words were not an exaggeration. Our family had been severely repressed during Franco’s dictatorship, and that shadow lingered for decades.

This story makes me reflect on how the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship shaped not only the lives of those who lived through it but also the opportunities of the generations that followed. The regime did not only silence voices; it created a system where political loyalty and family background determined access to education, employment, and even dignity. For families marked as “reds” or “undesirable,” social mobility was almost impossible.

What strikes me most is how these consequences still echo today — and how they affect me personally. Even now, when I think about career opportunities or social networks, I realize that historical memory shapes my confidence and my choices.

At the same time, I see how families that were aligned with the regime — or simply benefited from its structures — often passed down advantages: land, businesses, connections, and a sense of entitlement. Recently, I met a colleague whose family story shocked me: when her grandmother died, she left one million euros in the bank, several apartments in Madrid, and entire collections of antiques that had to be appraised by an expert. Her grandfather had been a military officer during Franco’s era. It makes me wonder: How is it possible to accumulate so much wealth? The answer is not merit or hard work alone—it is privilege, built on historical advantages and protected by social networks.