Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law
While Spain's civil war continued, the Nationalist government led by Francisco Franco enacted a Press Law in April 1938 requiring government permission to found a newspaper, work as a journalist or direct a paper, alongside continued pre-publication press controls and years-long prison terms for vaguely defined offenses.123
- Country
- Spain (RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180)
- Where
- ES
- Level of government
- National
- Tactics
- Credential control, Insult and defamation laws, Prior restraint
- Stage
- Silence (see the ladder)
- Head of government at the time
- Francisco Franco
- Issue of the day
- Franco's Nationalist forces were still fighting Spain's civil war in April 1938 and used the new Press Law to consolidate direct control over which newspapers could exist and who could work as a journalist within them.
- Outcome
- Reversed, April 1, 1977. Spain abolished prior press press controls by decree in April 1977, after Franco's 1975 death, ahead of the 1978 constitution that guaranteed freedom of the press.
- Era
- The 1930s
What happened
During Spain's civil war, the Nationalist side led by General Francisco Franco enacted a Press Law in April 1938 that placed the country's newspapers under direct state control. The law required government permission to found a newspaper, to work as a professional journalist, or to serve as a newspaper's director, effectively letting the government decide who could practice journalism at all. Pre-publication press controls, already in place since the war's start, continued under the new law. The law also created a vaguely defined offense, the diffusion of false and tendentious news against the authority of the state, that carried prison sentences of three to ten years. The system remained in force, with modifications, for decades; a 1966 law under minister Manuel Fraga presented itself as ending press controls but kept broad limits on content, and between 1966 and 1968 authorities still imposed 180 separate penalties on the press.123
What reason was given
The 1938 Press Law and its later penalties applied to what officials called the diffusion of false and tendentious news against the authority of the state, a standard broad enough to cover ordinary critical reporting.2
What changed for reporting
Journalists and newspaper directors needed government permission to work at all, coverage remained subject to pre-publication review, and reporters faced years in prison for material officials judged damaging to the state's authority.3
Timeline
1938
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Francisco Franco | enforced | Head of State of Spain |
Sources
Claims cited
- The 1938 Press Law made government permission necessary to found a newspaper, to work as a professional journalist, or to be a newspaper's director.
Government permission became necessary to found a newspaper, to work as a professional journalist or be director of a newspaper.
Press Censorship in Spain & Portugal, Index on Censorship (SAGE Publishing), 1972. Claim 159, checked 2026-09-22. - Authorities could prosecute journalists for what the law called the diffusion of false and tendentious news against the authority of the state, punishable by three to ten years in prison.
diffusion of false and tendentious news against the authority of the State
Press Censorship in Spain & Portugal, Index on Censorship (SAGE Publishing), 1972. Claim 160, checked 2026-09-22. - Even after a 1966 law that claimed to end censorship, Spanish authorities imposed 180 penalties on the press between 1966 and 1968 and drafted still harsher prison terms for journalists.
6 to 12 years' imprisonment for journalists who did not 'duly respect the institutions.'
Press Censorship in Spain & Portugal, Index on Censorship (SAGE Publishing), 1972. Claim 161, checked 2026-09-22.