Emilio Romero Gomez

Emilio Romero Gómez (Arévalo, Ávila, July 21, 1917 - Madrid, February 12, 2003) was a Spanish journalist and writer. He is considered one of the main journalists of the Franco regime. He was actively involved in politics, holding various positions derived from his status as a journalist, and as a national advisor to the Movement for Ávila and attorney in Cortes. He came to direct the newspapers La Mañana, Información and Pueblo —which he headed for more than twenty years— and was a regular columnist in publications such as Ya, ABC, Informaciones, El Periódico de Catalunya and the weekly Interviú, as well as a political commentator on the radio.

Trajectory

Journalism

He studied teaching and began a law degree that was interrupted by the start of the civil war. After the contest, in which he did not get to take part as a combatant, he decided to dedicate himself to journalism. Clearly identified with the Franco regime, throughout the dictatorship he also acted as a censor. In 1940, at the age of 23, he was appointed director of the newspaper La Mañana of Lleida, and two years later he held the position of same position in the Alicante newspaper Información. There he founded the literary magazine Tabarca, directed a local station and was a correspondent for La Estafeta Literaria. In 1945 he was appointed head of the National Press Section in the General Press Directorate and a few months later he became head of Political Orientation of the Spanish Press. In the spring of 1946 he joined the editorial staff of the evening newspaper Pueblo , the organ of the "vertical unions"; of the Spanish Trade Union Organization (OSE) as the first political editorial writer, until 1952, the year in which he became the director of the newspaper. For 22 years he was in charge of this Madrid afternoon newspaper, making it one of the three most important of its time in Spain, which is not surprising, since together with the morning newspaper Arriba, they formed the Movement's press. Emilio Romero was a solicitor in the Francoist Cortes.

This evening paper became famous for its articles that, with the illustration of a rooster, were known in national life as the "gallitos". From the pages of this newspaper, he sponsored at least three generations of journalists, whom he always defended tooth and nail against any kind of criticism from power, even against ministers of the Franco regime; in return, he required journalists to be "all-rounders."

He was director of the Official School of Journalism in Madrid since 1969 and in this position he promoted the creation of the Faculty of Information Sciences.

In 1975, with the end of the Franco regime already on the horizon, the government appointed him National Delegate for Press and Radio of the Movement. Being in charge of the so-called Press of the Movement, he organized the creation of the Sevillian newspaper Suroeste, a publication which replaced the defunct Sevilla newspaper and which sought to become the reference newspaper in the Andalusian area. However, after a few years this project ended up failing miserably and in 1983 the newspaper was closed due to the constant losses and its low diffusion among the public. Despite this, during this period he was also director of the magazine La Jaula; he was in this position for a very short time, since discrepancies soon arose with the management of the magazine and was fired. Romero founded another newspaper in Madrid in 1977, El Imparcial , whose head, like that of El Sol , had previously registered his name. However, he ended up leaving the management of El Imparcial due to discrepancies with its owner, the banker Domingo López, and Julio Merino succeeded him as director, until then attached to Romero for information, while the deputy for opinion, Juan Van-Halen, left the newspaper with him. In September 1977, Romero took charge of the Madrid newspaper Informaciones, with a long tradition in the Spanish press.

From September 1987 to May 1991, he participated in the daily social gathering "La Linterna", on Cadena Cope, to later move on to the program, also a social gathering, "Things as they are&# 3. 4; of National Radio of Spain-Radio 1.

Literature

In his facet as a writer he touched on almost all genres: the novel, the essay, the theater, the conference, the article or the commentary. He has published several novels, such as Peace never begins, Everyone died in Casa Manchada, Verde doncella, Rats go up to the city , Decent people scare me, Lola, her boyfriend and I and Three girls and a stranger, for which she has received numerous prizes, such as the National Prize for Literature or the Planeta.

As a playwright, he wrote fifteen original works premiered in Madrid, including Only God can judge me (1969), La Chocholila or The End of the World is on Thursday (1981), and adapted works by Bertolt Brecht (Galileo) and Büchner (The Death of Danton). As an essayist, he has written among other works: Letters to a Prince, Letters to a King, Cursed Letters, This is Spain, Tragicomedy of Spain and Retratos de época, the latter two published in 1985.

Relationship with 23-F

There has been speculation that Emilio Romero could have previously known about the 23F coup attempt, since days before the coup he published an article in the newspaper ABC in which he harshly criticized Adolfo Suárez, defended the need for 'a change of direction' and proposed General Alfonso Armada (later implicated in the coup) as a possible candidate for Prime Minister. On the same day of February 23, he had a telephone conversation with his friend, the ultra-rightist convicted of the coup, Juan García Carrés. In any case, Romero was never tried or convicted by the 23F.

Style

Emilio Romero was characterized by his mental agility and his tight, incisive and scathing style of words.

His last work was Un desnudo de la Historia (1992), a summary of the last half century in Spain in the form of "news, criticism, confession and story", according to the own author. On many occasions, his ability as a columnist or editorial writer within the Franco regime's press was based on taking advantage of the contradictions of a system that lacked a clear and coherent ideology.

Thus, Emilio Romero could perfectly attack the bank or a president of a large Spanish bank based on the fact that the status of bankers was provisional if the founding principles of the Spanish Falange were adhered to. After a series of articles on the subject, with extreme harshness against the banker, he did not mention the matter again.

Awards and recognitions

He received several literary prizes: the Planeta Prize in 1957 for Peace begins never, the National Literature Prize in 1963 for Letters to a Prince, the Ateneo de Seville in 1987 for his novel Three girls and a stranger, the Espejo Prize of Spain for his historical essay Tragicomedia of Spain and the Francisco Franco Prize for Journalism on December 23, 1955. He also won the Mariano de Cavia Prize for journalism, the Luca de Tena Prize, the Jaime Balmes Prize, the Mariano José de Larra Prize and the César González Ruano Prize.

His hometown, Arévalo, dedicated an avenue to him and also a sculpture in the central Plaza del Real. The Benidorm town hall also dedicated an avenue to it.

Family

He married María Josefa Montalvo and had three children: the bullfighting journalist Mariví Romero, Emilio Romero and Maria José Romero.