Famine and Malnutrition in Franco's Spain. An Anthropometric Balance

This paper examines the effects of hunger and malnutrition on the biological standards of living of the Spanish during the Francoist autarky. With data on adult heights, mainly of adolescent men available in the military recruitment records, net nutrition is analysed. It presents a balance of anthropometric history that shows the variability of the heights in different parts of the Spanish geography. The increase in adolescent height observed during the first third of the 20th century was truncated during the Civil War (1936-39). Average height decreased in the 1940s. The deterioration in nutritional status was more severe than in other European countries who suffered famines during the World War II. The drop in the average height of the recruits lasted until 1947 and in some rural areas of the interior until 1953. There are important regional differences, within the same territory and by socioeconomic groups. Recent studies show an increase in rural-urban and social gaps, including differences within large cities, between rich and poor neighbourhoods, which reveal the magnitude of the nutritional crisis.