NODO: “Obras Hidráulicas” (“Hydraulic Works”) : not-811/1486027 (July 1958)
Foreword: it’s important to know that one of the priorities of the Francoism regime were the hydraulic Works. Dams and irrigation channels were widely publicized as an example of the achievements of the regime. The images of Franco visiting the Works and specially inaugurating them were ubiquitous in all the media, including of course the No-Do. In fact, they were so ubiquitous that even there were jokes about them, but that’s another story.
Title: “Obras Hidráulicas” ( Hydraulic Works):
Duration: 1’20”.
Synopsis: the Generalísimo Franco visits the works of the dams of Entrepeñas, Buendía and Bolarque, where he also symbolically starts its hydroelectrical central.
Description:
Images of Franco and prominent figures of the regime are repeatedly shown, intercalated with images of the dams, water exits and a turbines room, on a sunny day.
The narrator explains us many things:
-At Entrepeñas, 8050Ha have been flooded, and the dam is as long as the distance between Madrid and El Escorial.
-Thousands of cubic meters of earth have been removed and some roads have been deviated.
-It explains us that Franco shows on a drawing the development of the works (so, that’s how we are told that they are not finished, something that otherwise from the images we’d never know).
-It explains us that a fascist monolit has been erected.
-That the dam of Buendía has 57.000 cadeas of power, and that joint capacity of theses dams is 2480Mm3, which is the biggest is Europe.
-We also know that the power at Bolarque is 60MwH/year.
-And very important: the hydraulic capacity in Spain was 4000 Mm3 in 1939, is 15000 Mm3 in 1958 and it is planned to increase it up to 38.000 Mm3.
Opinion:
I was first shocked by the lack of context in these news. Of course a NoDo is not can not be an ARTE documentary, of course subjects like environmental impact did not even exist in the dictionary in 1958 -at least, not in the Spanish one- and of course whatever might be controversial will be hidden. But anyway, the narrator provides us many with many data that do not help understanding the importance of these dams, which at first sounds counterintuitive, if you want to “sell” to the public how good and beneficial these dams are.
So, after watching it we have no idea of basic things like:
-How much they have costed, how long have these works lasted, how many people have worked on it, or when will they be fully operational.
-Which companies have taken part in these works.
-Which will be the use of the dams: irrigation, water supply, or electricity production? Or all of them?
-How many acres will be irrigated? How many homes can be supplied with water and/or electricity thanks to these dams?
-Will many villagers become protected from floods, thanks to these dams?
None of these questions is answered in this newsreel. And all of them could easily be used as propaganda for the public: for example, a huge budget can be presented as a show of “how mighty and rich we are, as a country”.
But this was not the way chosen, so all we got is several data but no explanation of the purposes of the dams. And from my point of view, this is not casual. A data like 60MwH can not be discussed. While using the water for irrigation instead of electrical production (or upside down) could arise debate, or even controversy. So, nothing is said about it. And the result is that we see Franco inaugurating 3 huge dams (the biggest in Europe!), which have been built for unknown purposes -other than incidentally, one of them produces 60MwH/year.
But we must be glad: the hydraulic capacity in Spain was 4000 Mm3 in 1939, is 15000 Mm3 in 1958 and it is planned to increase it up to 38.000 Mm3.
Deixa un comentari