O Comércio do Porto as a cross-border space between Portugal and Spain

Photographic portrait of the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

The Spanish Civil War is considered the first modern conflict to be photographed, day by day, by Spanish and foreign photographers. Those snapshots taken between 1936 and 1939 are today memory supports to recover the history of the Spanish conflict. However, in their context they became another tool for winning the war in the field of propaganda. The aim of this article is to reflect on the role that a Portuguese newspaper, O Comércio de Porto, played in the coverage of the war. The newspaper carried out an extraordinary photographic follow-up of the events and happenings in Spain. And it did so as Franco's official mouthpiece in Portugal. We will first profile the 1,099 photographs published between July 1936 and April 1939, and then analyze how these images were used to maintain Allied morale, criticize the enemy, and convince foreigners of the need to collaborate with the common political cause.