The Jewel of the Fair: spain’s participation in new york world’s fair of 1964

Abstract

The New York World’s Fair of 1964-1965 was an international exhibition in which Spain had a notorious participation. With the support of Manuel Fraga and Fernando Castiella, the Francoist regime took advantage of the fact that the fair coincided with the «25 years of peace» after the end of the Civil War, making it a great propaganda opportunity to present Spain as a modern and renewed country. The result was successful in terms of diplomacy and country image. Life magazine dedicated a feature to the Spanish pavilion in August 1964, calling it «the jewel of the fair». In cultural terms, the aim was to present an image of the country as a generator of high culture and also to emphasize the historical links between Spain and the Americas. This paper analyzes the Spanish presence in the 1964 exhibition, studying the implicit discourse, the objectives and the relationship between Spain, the United States and Latin America –within the framework of the so-called Hispanicity and informal imperialism.