“What,” I asked my new companions, “is it like living under Franco?” The response was not at all what I expected. The man opposite me became very agitated and put his finger to his lips. His pal got up and shut the windows of their first floor flat in Barcelona.
“We have to be very careful,” one of the young Catalans who had given me a lift earlier in the day explained. “Here they can arrest you for anything.” The year was 1974, and it was only when the windows were sealed that they were prepared to share their hatred of the despised dictator who had been in power for 35 years.
His ascendancy followed the brutal 1930s Spanish Civil War, which cost hundreds of thousands their lives. My new friends were spared further fear and intimidation when Francisco Franco died 18 months later. But the exchange in their Barcelona apartment was one of many examples of how very different the planet was 50 years ago when Scotland qualified for the World Cup finals in West Germany.
I had tickets for all three group games against Zaire, Brazil and Yugoslavia. Zaire is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Yugoslavia – also run by a dictator in Josip Tito – ceased to exist in 1992 and the land mass is split into six different nation states. West Germany, of course, is now Germany, following the 1990 reunification.
The last time I checked, Brazil was still Brazil. As for Scotland, almost uniquely amongst the nations of the world , we voted against regaining our independe.