Is there a Future in this Past?: Analyzing 15M's Intricate Relation to the Transición

The current economic recession in Spain prompted a need to reassess post-authoritarian phenomena, as in moments of deep social, political and economic crisis the recent past tends to become an issue of contention. A key question of the indignados' self-representation and understanding of self revolves around their relation to the past and, in particular, the transition to democracy. The present paper aims to analyze how these social activists perceive their relation to the Transición and the so-called memoria histórica, thus exploring the complex ways in which the troubled past is being re-signified and re-framed by social actors in the present. Based on a close reading of oral testimony, in conjunction with written and visual sources, this paper highlights the movement's rebellious attitude vis-à-vis the hegemonic memory of the “model transition.” At the same time, it underlines the indignados' dependence on models of activism that emerged during the very years of the transition to democracy.