Darío Adanti Chistes contra Franco, Digi Mart USA News (Centro Cultural de España en México, Mexico City): Humor can also be a form of resistance against authoritarianism. From this perspective, humorist, cartoonist and journalist Darío Adanti is presenting “Chistes contra Franco,” an artistic action that revives the clandestine jokes that circulated during Francisco Franco’s dictatorship as a way of challenging power through irony, sarcasm and dark humor.
The event will take place at the Centro Cultural de España en México (CCEMx) as part of the training program “50+1 años de libertad,” which commemorates 51 years since the end of the dictatorship. November 2025 marked half a century since Franco’s death.
Argentine comics writer Eugenio Merino and actress and journalist Ana Alonso also take part in the initiative.
Through jokes accompanied by excerpts from books and historical documents, Adanti aims to bring audiences closer to an era marked by censorship, persecution, torture and executions. The goal is to understand not only the wit of those jokes but also the risk involved in telling them.
“We wanted to recover anti-fascist historical memory through the jokes that were told clandestinely,” the artist explains, stressing that those who dared to laugh at the regime could face serious reprisals.
A co-founder of the satirical magazine Mongolia, Adanti champions political humor as a tool for questioning power, defending human rights and preserving freedoms.
The project also has a personal and emotional dimension linked to Mexico and the memory of the Spanish Republican exile. The artist highlights the solidarity shown by Mexico during the government of Lázaro Cárdenas, when the country received thousands of Spaniards who had to leave their homeland after the Spanish Civil War.
“It is very moving to be able to come and pay tribute to the Republicans in the land that gave them protection when everyone else left them behind,” he says.
Adanti also recognizes Mexico as one of the great references of political satire, a tradition he associates with publications such as El Chamuco.
During his visit, Adanti also taught a satirical collage workshop at the CCEMx, an experience he described as extraordinary because of the creativity and participation of attendees. “Humor in Mexico is lived on the street; you can feel it,” he says.
With “Chistes contra Franco,” the artist notes that resistance was also built through small everyday gestures and the solidarity of those who refused to give up critical thinking.
The presentation will be held tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. at the Centro Cultural de España en México, located at Guatemala 18, Centro Histórico.
The event is an invitation to recover anti-fascist memory and recognize humor as an expression of freedom against authoritarianism.
