Despite being declared enemies by their countries, people in the Rock…
Rota n' Roll
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During the Cold War there was a corner on the Spanish seaside, where the United States controlled the threat of the fearsome Communist bloc of the Soviet Union. The largest American military base on European soil was built in Rota, a small and humble farming and fishing village that soon started to change.
Farmers like Juan "el Gato" lost his piece of land and fishermen like Antonio "el Cisquero" changed their fishing boats by warships. And then, thousands of American marines like Paul arrived with their huge cars that barely fit in the narrow streets, full with clubs where teenagers soldiers, like Mike, tried to find a shelter to forget about Vietnam. But there were also those who came back from Vietnam, and when the Sixth Fleet and the nuclear submarines were docked, "rock n 'roll" started in the town.
Streets full of bars and "sins," dollars, American smuggling products, stories of friendship,disagreement but also love stories between the marines and the girls in town. The tiny humble village got richer and bigger while, through the loudspeakers of the radio, the greatest hits of rock & roll provided a soundtrack to the base, broadcast from the base radio station for soldiers not to feel homesick. But the wave of sound ran through the fences and young people in the area discovered unknown melodies for the first time and many local music bands, such as "Los Radars," (so called because of the huge antenna that intercepted the signals of the Russian spy ships) and many other young people were brought up under all that cultural and social influence, thinking that "the real world" was that, when it was enough to come near a next village to wake up from the "American way of life" to the misery of the postwar period and to Franco´s dictatorship was still ruling in Spain. And all these things happened once upon a time, when Rota met the "Roll".
Citation
Main credits
Zamora, Vanesa Benítez (film director)
Zamora, Vanesa Benítez (screenwriter)
Kunschke, Daniel Méndez (film producer)
Vila, Javier (screenwriter)
Other credits
Cinematography, Antonio Galisteo; editing, Javier Vila.
Distributor subjects
Iberian Studies; Music; Fascism + Repression; Sociology; History; Music; Political ScienceKeywords
WEBVTT
00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:14.240
We were just friends
playing some music.
00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:16.440
Somebody said:
\"Do you want to play in Rota?\"
00:01:16.600 --> 00:01:18.680
So, there we go,
no name, nothing.
00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:21.080
On the way there,
00:01:21.240 --> 00:01:24.760
we came close to the base
and saw this huge antenna.
00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.080
The Americans
called it the \"Bullring\".
00:01:27.240 --> 00:01:31.520
We were just trying to come up
with a name for the band.
00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.600
One of us said: \"Hey,
let\'s call ourselves The Radar\'s.\"
00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.320
It was October 14th, 1953.
00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:54.800
I was on my bicycle
with a yoke of beasts in tow
00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:58.960
on my way to the fields,
when a group of cars
00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:02.120
pushed me out of the way.
\"Get off the road.\"
00:06:02.280 --> 00:06:05.280
Very harsh!
00:06:05.440 --> 00:06:07.960
I wondered
who was coming to town...
00:06:09.760 --> 00:06:11.640
I was at work
at my doctor\'s practice
00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:13.440
in the town\'s castle.
00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:16.480
Suddenly, the nun arrives:
\"It\'s Franco!\"
00:06:16.640 --> 00:06:21.280
\"But, sister...\".
\"Yes, Franco is here!\".
00:06:21.440 --> 00:06:24.000
We went up to the turret
and there he was.
00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:27.480
He\'s looking around the area
and suddenly says:
00:06:28.760 --> 00:06:32.680
\"Can someone, please, tell me
where the Rio Salado is?\"
00:06:33.880 --> 00:06:37.400
We pointed it out for him,
\"Behind those trees\".
00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:39.080
\"Ah, yes, yes.\"
00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.480
He kept looking for some time
00:06:43.520 --> 00:06:44.840
and left saying:
\"Ok, very well...\"
00:06:45.280 --> 00:06:48.440
He left everybody wondering
00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:52.200
why visit Rota?
00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:54.840
On the following day,
in the newspapers,
00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:58.160
we read about the treaty
between Spain and the US
00:06:58.320 --> 00:06:59.640
and what it was about.
00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:07.920
Franco told the ambassador:
00:07:08.080 --> 00:07:10.880
\"Sign it,
whatever they come up with!\"
00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.720
He needed that treaty
as we had been
00:07:14.880 --> 00:07:18.000
excluded from the United Nations
for years
00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.720
Spain held a weak position
during negotiations
00:07:20.880 --> 00:07:24.680
and it reflects
in the pacts signed.
00:07:24.840 --> 00:07:27.760
Spain drew the short stick!
00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:31.720
In case of attack
by foreign forces,
00:07:31.880 --> 00:07:35.600
Spain had to defend
the base and...
00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:40.040
...the Americans!
00:07:40.200 --> 00:07:43.040
Listen,
they had the fire power,
00:07:43.200 --> 00:07:45.240
airplanes,
00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:48.520
even atomic bombs!
00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:51.720
How could we defend them?
00:08:30.840 --> 00:08:36.080
My father had a storehouse
in \"El Campillo\"
00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:41.120
where he produced
four or five barrels of wine
00:08:41.280 --> 00:08:43.040
each year and sold them.
00:08:50.280 --> 00:08:52.400
I cried my eyes out
the day they threw us out
00:08:52.560 --> 00:08:55.200
I was 17 back then
and they told me:
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.840
\"Get out and leave the doors open!\"
00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.880
They were killing me.
00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:13.760
Lands were confiscated
according to the needs of the base.
00:09:13.920 --> 00:09:17.560
Almost a third
of the whole municipality,
00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:22.800
the more productive
and richer fields.
00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:27.680
It was a breaking point
for many.
00:09:28.800 --> 00:09:31.800
They took everything.
00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:34.560
People were left
with nothing.
00:09:44.880 --> 00:09:48.720
I assure you that there is
no reason for alarm.
00:09:48.880 --> 00:09:52.360
Mayor, let the whole
community know
00:09:52.520 --> 00:09:54.280
they will be paid
generously
00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:57.320
and everyone will be settled.
00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:00.560
I\'m not eluding my responsibility.
00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:02.280
There\'s
no ministerial reunion
00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:04.640
without concerns
about Rota.
00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:08.120
We may have to slow down
the solution
00:10:08.280 --> 00:10:12.040
but it will come
to everyone\'s satisfaction.
00:10:15.560 --> 00:10:18.760
Your Excellency, Minister,
your visit
00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:22.360
is an immense joy for Rota.
00:10:22.520 --> 00:10:28.040
At this moment, modest farmers
affected by the expropriations,
00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:32.840
wait, with confidence, for a solution
to their home and land problems.
00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.000
That\'s when the farmers
got their solution.
00:10:36.160 --> 00:10:39.800
Those who agreed
would be relocated
00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:45.080
to different parcels
and could continue farming.
00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.880
These farmers
know no other way of life.
00:10:52.040 --> 00:10:53.960
They only know their land.
00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:57.880
They are devoted to their land,
00:10:58.040 --> 00:11:02.800
Not providing them with similar
land would destroy their existence.
00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:06.560
Land and homes
will be provided
00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:10.720
and families will be compensated
with splendor and justice!
00:11:10.880 --> 00:11:12.720
Many farmers did accept.
00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:17.760
There were no buildings
and they put them into barracks.
00:11:17.920 --> 00:11:20.400
It was a floodplain,
00:11:20.560 --> 00:11:22.920
farmers really suffered.
00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:27.400
Many couldn\'t handle it.
00:11:27.760 --> 00:11:30.480
It was terrible, terrible.
00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.160
People committed suicide,
hanged themselves.
00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:38.320
Authorities hadn\'t
foreseen any alternative.
00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.680
They came up with it much later.
00:11:50.280 --> 00:11:55.480
I remember the day
I first saw an American Jeep.
00:11:55.640 --> 00:11:58.440
They were measuring plots
00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.040
and I was keeping my cows.
00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:03.480
So, that \"monster\" shows up
00:12:03.640 --> 00:12:05.720
and sinks into a pond!
00:12:18.160 --> 00:12:21.200
It was 1958.
00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:27.320
Brown Raymond & Walsh
hired me in Rota.
00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:32.040
They were in charge
of building the whole base.
00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:37.320
There were no framers
nor qualified personnel,
00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:41.200
so the workers came
from everywhere.
00:12:41.640 --> 00:12:44.680
We hadn\'t seen such
machinery here,
00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:47.520
no one in Spain had.
00:12:47.680 --> 00:12:49.880
It was shipped
directly from the US.
00:12:50.040 --> 00:12:52.600
It was so heavy
it got stuck in the ground.
00:12:53.840 --> 00:13:01.800
They had to use donkeys
from all around the area
00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:06.480
to transport
all the materials.
00:13:32.160 --> 00:13:35.560
I was a fisherman.
We\'d fish mackerels.
00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.240
We were at Eugenio\'s bar...
00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:42.640
and this big guy shows up:
00:13:42.800 --> 00:13:46.840
\"You guys, do you know where
to find some workers here?
00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:50.240
You five,
would you like to get a job?\"
00:13:50.400 --> 00:13:53.320
So that\'s when we started
building the jetty.
00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:58.400
Once finished, a friend of mine,
a Dutch engineer, asked:
00:13:58.560 --> 00:14:01.040
\"Antonio, do you want
to join the NAVY?\"
00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:03.200
\"But, I don\'t have any papers!\"
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.320
\"It doesn\'t matter! My uncle
is a commanding officer\", he said.
00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:08.640
And I said: \"Of course, man!
Who wouldn\'t want to!\"
00:14:08.800 --> 00:14:11.040
I was assigned to an oil tanker,
00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.960
providing oil from Rota
to the warships in Cádiz.
00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.000
Fishermen started...
00:14:22.160 --> 00:14:25.080
...working on tugboats.
00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:28.200
The situation improved
for everybody.
00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:30.800
There was a better
future in sight.
00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:33.720
People were making money
00:14:33.880 --> 00:14:36.640
and get the paycheck
every fortnight.
00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:42.600
A 180-degree turn for Rota.
00:16:34.880 --> 00:16:38.200
I was born in the US,
00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:40.880
in Pennsylvania,
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.760
in a small town
of only 5000 inhabitants.
00:16:44.920 --> 00:16:48.960
Electronics was my hobby,
for lack of a better word,
00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:53.720
and my parents
really couldn\'t afford college,
00:16:53.880 --> 00:16:55.680
so I enlisted.
00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:00.600
There were two Spanish
sergeants at our last class.
00:17:00.760 --> 00:17:03.240
And they said: \"Choose Spain!
00:17:03.400 --> 00:17:05.520
Lots of women! Beautiful girls!\"
00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.000
So I said:
\"Ok, I\'ll take Spain\".
00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.480
Lucky enough,
I was assigned to the USS Canopus.
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.240
I was a specialist
in calibration
00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.400
and there was
a laboratory on board
00:17:19.560 --> 00:17:21.560
to service the submarines.
00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.000
It wasn\'t just old,
00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.400
rather very different.
00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:19.960
The cars, the people
00:18:20.120 --> 00:18:23.160
and how they dressed,
the looks of the streets.
00:18:23.320 --> 00:18:26.680
The buildings
were all made out of cement.
00:18:26.840 --> 00:18:28.880
From where I came, the houses
00:18:29.040 --> 00:18:31.640
were made out of wood.
The forests, things like that.
00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:47.680
Census doesn\'t show,
but 10.000 Americans arrived.
00:18:47.840 --> 00:18:49.000
Military and civilians.
00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:52.120
I remember it
as if it just happened.
00:18:52.280 --> 00:18:55.400
We were out playing
on the streets
00:18:55.560 --> 00:18:59.320
and suddenly,
jet planes start passing by.
00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:06.360
That noise.
We were all paralyzed:
00:19:06.520 --> 00:19:08.960
\"What the hell is this?\"
00:19:09.120 --> 00:19:14.200
They had these small choppers,
we called them \"little devils\".
00:19:14.360 --> 00:19:17.480
My mother was doing
the laundry outside, as usual,
00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:20.080
and she ran inside the house,
terrified and shouting:
00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:21.880
\"Oh my god! A flying saucer!\".
00:19:23.600 --> 00:19:25.040
At their arrival,
00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.720
there was some rejection.
00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:31.920
They had lost their houses,
their farmlands
00:19:32.080 --> 00:19:34.160
and left in a very
difficult situation.
00:19:39.120 --> 00:19:42.760
The Americans docked
at the base...
00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:47.120
and from the deck
they would do like this:
00:19:47.280 --> 00:19:49.360
Bam! They threw money, coins...
00:19:49.520 --> 00:19:53.200
We would pile up
on the dock to pick it up!
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:56.600
Times were tough in Spain.
00:19:57.480 --> 00:19:59.800
It was post-civil war
00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:03.040
and we had
considerable needs.
00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.320
When we saw Americans,
00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:11.520
we asked them for money:
\"Peseta, peseta!\"
00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:14.720
They would give us some,
or gum, candies...
00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:19.800
It probably was some sort of policy
from the US government
00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:26.560
to establish a friendly relationship
with the locals.
00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.200
An American captain told me
00:20:32.360 --> 00:20:34.040
that when he was sent to Rota
00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:36.840
he didn\'t even know
where Spain was.
00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:38.400
I said: \"Jesus, Young!
00:20:38.560 --> 00:20:43.080
Columbus discovered America
five centuries ago!\"
00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.080
The base in Rota played
00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:05.600
a very important role
during the Cold War.
00:21:05.760 --> 00:21:07.880
It faces the Atlantic Ocean,
00:21:08.040 --> 00:21:11.680
and sits next
to the Mediterranean Sea.
00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.400
Polaris-type nuclear submarines
00:21:21.560 --> 00:21:23.440
can carry up to 16 missiles
00:21:23.600 --> 00:21:28.520
with a maximum range
of about 4000-4500 kilometers.
00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:31.200
During the Cold War,
00:21:31.360 --> 00:21:33.040
if there had been an attack,
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.320
let\'s say by the Soviet Union,
00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:37.760
targets would have been
impossible to reach from the US.
00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:40.640
Through deployment in Rota,
00:21:40.800 --> 00:21:42.600
and later also in Scotland,
00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:46.040
everything was possible.
00:22:54.600 --> 00:22:57.680
I began working on base,
00:22:57.840 --> 00:22:59.000
at the airport.
00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:03.640
Filling in shipping manifests
for airplanes.
00:23:03.800 --> 00:23:06.080
I didn\'t have direct contact,
00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:08.920
but one task was to inventory
the deceased
00:23:09.080 --> 00:23:11.960
coming from Vietnam.
00:23:12.120 --> 00:23:16.640
They had different codes,
00:23:16.800 --> 00:23:20.160
I don\'t remember the exact one...
DVQ!
00:23:20.320 --> 00:23:22.280
Oh, another fallen soldier!
00:23:45.280 --> 00:23:47.120
The town quickly starts
00:23:47.280 --> 00:23:49.960
depending economically
from the base.
00:23:50.120 --> 00:23:52.480
New employment
opportunities in relation
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.040
to leisure activities,
hotels, also taxis, arise.
00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:59.000
As a doctor back then,
00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:01.440
I was earning 8.000 pesetas,
00:24:01.600 --> 00:24:04.520
while a colleague
working on the base
00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:08.320
would earn 40.000 pesetas!
00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:10.360
The difference was huge!
00:24:13.320 --> 00:24:15.600
The taxi business was booming
00:24:15.760 --> 00:24:17.560
and very profitable.
00:24:17.720 --> 00:24:20.480
Spanish money
was worth next to nothing,
00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:21.840
Dollars however...
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.680
Clients paid in dollars.
The exchange rate was great!
00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:28.560
With that money,
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:32.040
I built a little house,
my father moved
00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:34.240
to San Fernando Avenue,
00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.160
where we opened the winery
00:24:37.320 --> 00:24:39.640
and grew the business.
00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:46.120
When I became Mayor,
00:24:46.280 --> 00:24:50.280
I improved relations
with the American personnel.
00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:53.200
They were the ones
who could help me out
00:24:53.360 --> 00:24:56.400
because the Spanish government
helped very little.
00:24:56.560 --> 00:24:59.640
Americans were taken aback!
00:24:59.800 --> 00:25:03.000
They used to say:
\"You are the Mayor,
00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:07.240
lots of money!\"
\"Money? All for Spain!\"
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:10.480
{\\an8}The town flourished.
00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:15.640
{\\an8}At one point, Rota\'s economy
became quite large.
00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:06.600
I went to see a movie
with my father,
00:26:06.760 --> 00:26:10.280
In one scene,
this plumber has to go,
00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:13.880
to a house to fix something.
00:26:14.040 --> 00:26:16.920
So he gets there in his car!
00:26:17.080 --> 00:26:19.320
I asked my father:
\"Did you see this?
00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:21.160
The plumber, he owns a car!\"
00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:23.840
He said: \"That\'s propaganda!\"
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.520
It was unthinkable,
unthinkable for us
00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:29.760
that a plumber could own a car.
00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:54.080
Big cars started
to circulate in town
00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.760
Everybody believed
00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:58.920
that all Americans
were millionaires!
00:26:59.080 --> 00:27:01.240
They arrived here,
with their cars,
00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:03.760
with much more technology,
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:06.480
Rota was a small farming
and fishing village,
00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:10.920
and the superior culture
ended up
00:27:11.080 --> 00:27:12.640
absorbing the inferior one.
00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:30.440
Before landing on the moon,
00:27:30.600 --> 00:27:34.240
NASA brought a capsule
00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.880
to perform some landing
tests around here.
00:27:38.040 --> 00:27:40.040
This plane would fly by
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:42.720
and 14 or 15 parachutists
would jump out.
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:44.800
With blinking lights on them...
00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:46.800
Sometimes 2 or 3 went missing.
00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:49.400
Lights would go out.
You couldn\'t see a thing!
00:27:49.560 --> 00:27:54.120
I would take the boat
and go on a rescue mission!
00:27:54.280 --> 00:27:56.720
Sometimes, I would hear...
\"There he is..\"
00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:59.960
I would go on looking
for the next one.
00:28:00.120 --> 00:28:03.400
One day, they had lost five
and I did find all of them!
00:28:03.560 --> 00:28:07.280
Can you imagine to be lost
in the middle of the ocean?
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:09.880
So lonely out there!
00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:13.280
After fishing them out...
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:16.800
they gave me hugs and kisses
like we were just married!
00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:26.120
One of the things
that used to worry me most,
00:30:26.280 --> 00:30:27.760
related to a personal
experience,
00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:30.160
was the lack of recognition
00:30:30.320 --> 00:30:32.440
to all of those
female domestic workers
00:30:32.600 --> 00:30:34.880
from Rota, hundreds of them.
00:30:35.040 --> 00:30:37.560
No one ever mentioned them.
00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:42.640
Those women and their work,
had a tremendous impact.
00:30:44.120 --> 00:30:47.720
It really was important.
00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:51.200
It happened to many women.
00:30:51.360 --> 00:30:56.720
In many cases, the whole family
economy depended on them.
00:30:58.800 --> 00:31:03.520
Suddenly, they had access
to a whole new world
00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:07.880
that questioned
their imposed values.
00:31:18.320 --> 00:31:20.280
They were in direct contact
with other women
00:31:20.440 --> 00:31:24.000
{\\an8}who weren\'t behaving
how women were supposed to behave.
00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:26.160
They had their own cars,
00:31:26.320 --> 00:31:30.480
something impossible
for a girl in Rota.
00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:33.840
We are talking
about the 60\'s here.
00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:38.880
Even access to contraceptives!
00:31:39.040 --> 00:31:41.600
That was unheard of.
00:31:41.760 --> 00:31:45.560
Many barely knew
how to read and write.
00:31:46.040 --> 00:31:49.240
The open-mindedness
that came later in Spain,
00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:55.880
it definitely happened before
in Rota.
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:07.200
I started working in the infirmary.
That\'s where I met Mary Chisholms.
00:32:07.360 --> 00:32:09.640
Once, she asked: \"What
would you like the most?\"
00:32:09.800 --> 00:32:13.200
And I said: \"I want to go
to America!\", thinking it was a joke.
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:19.840
When I arrived in New York,
it was so beautiful!
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:21.480
All this lights!
00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:25.640
\"What is this? Where am I?
Is this a show?
00:32:25.800 --> 00:32:28.000
I was so used to Rota.
00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:32.800
We traveled then to Northwood,
in Massachusetts,
00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:36.280
The roads were so big.
00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:38.600
They didn\'t build roads
like that in Spain...
00:32:38.760 --> 00:32:41.080
The avenues, so many the cars...
00:32:43.760 --> 00:32:47.520
I stayed at her parent\'s
00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:52.120
and also went to high school there.
00:32:52.280 --> 00:32:57.200
Every week, her mother
would give me some money.
00:32:57.360 --> 00:33:00.880
I saved every penny. I didn\'t know
really where to spend it,
00:33:01.600 --> 00:33:03.240
so I saved it and saved it.
00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:05.440
When I got back to Spain,
00:33:05.600 --> 00:33:07.760
I bought a TV set for my mother.
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:12.320
It was the first one
in the whole neighborhood.
00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:15.360
One day, this woman comes
to watch some bullfighting.
00:33:15.520 --> 00:33:19.680
When she saw the bull, she ran out
thinking the bull was coming after her.
00:33:46.520 --> 00:33:50.320
My brother was a very famous
bullfighter back then
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:53.160
He had bought a Cadillac.
00:33:53.320 --> 00:33:55.800
They organized
a party to celebrate.
00:33:55.960 --> 00:34:01.360
I had never thought
I would meet an American.
00:34:01.520 --> 00:34:05.960
I saw him
and I really liked him,
00:34:06.120 --> 00:34:08.720
He was in a very good shape...
00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:10.680
You know,
women notice everything...
00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:14.000
It was such a beautiful wedding.
00:34:14.160 --> 00:34:18.480
A lot of people came by,
as they knew my brother.
00:34:18.640 --> 00:34:22.360
\"A bullfighter\'s sister marries
an American! And he\'s black!\"
00:34:22.520 --> 00:34:27.040
But, most of the compliments
were for him.
00:35:12.600 --> 00:35:15.440
There was a part of the base,
the golf course
00:35:15.600 --> 00:35:19.160
that was basically in the town.
00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:27.360
So, basically, we sneaked
into the base through the barbed wire,
00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:31.320
through some small holes.
00:35:32.160 --> 00:35:34.800
We were told,
\"If the Americans catch you,
00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:37.640
they\'ll shave your head
00:35:37.800 --> 00:35:40.560
and put you
under the sun playing a drum
00:35:40.720 --> 00:35:42.880
until you faint!\"
00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:45.520
Completely different worlds.
00:35:45.680 --> 00:35:48.160
Spain was so underdeveloped
00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:51.480
and the American living standards,
00:35:51.640 --> 00:35:55.560
there was
such a huge difference!
00:36:07.520 --> 00:36:10.400
You\'d enter the base
and it was like
00:36:10.560 --> 00:36:13.240
you were in an American movie.
00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:15.200
It\'s just the way they live.
00:36:17.320 --> 00:36:20.320
{\\an8}During baseball games,
they\'d set up grandstands
00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:22.680
and we would sneak underneath them
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:25.960
and steal
packets of cigarettes, a beer...
00:36:26.120 --> 00:36:27.840
things like that.
00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:32.440
That\'s how we started
to discover an unknown world.
00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:18.240
What was most interesting
00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:22.160
was to get stuff
from the Navy Exchange,
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:24.560
the commissary.
00:37:24.720 --> 00:37:28.120
The privilege of the Navy Exchange
was only for Americans.
00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:31.160
I worked in different positions
and never even
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:33.000
took a toothpick home with me.
00:37:33.360 --> 00:37:37.440
The Navy Exchange just wanted
to sell as much as possible,
00:37:37.600 --> 00:37:39.400
American, Spanish
it didn\'t matter.
00:37:39.560 --> 00:37:42.840
But the Spanish Guards
in charge of the gates,
00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:46.000
those really cared about it.
00:37:46.160 --> 00:37:49.240
It was like
going through customs.
00:37:50.040 --> 00:37:52.960
They had magazines
like Penthouse,
00:37:53.120 --> 00:37:55.520
the kind of things
we didn\'t have.
00:37:55.680 --> 00:37:59.120
Sport Magazines,
everything you could imagine.
00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:03.400
All brands of tobacco
and the food, all sorts of.
00:38:03.560 --> 00:38:07.520
They brought meat from Germany
in freezer trucks.
00:38:07.680 --> 00:38:11.800
When we got our hands on that meat...
Delightful...
00:38:11.960 --> 00:38:14.440
Now you can easily find
everything everywhere,
00:38:14.600 --> 00:38:15.720
but back then...
00:38:15.880 --> 00:38:20.400
A pair of Ray-Ban glasses,
the chocolate bars, the cookies...
00:38:20.560 --> 00:38:22.680
This stuff
was highly valued in town.
00:38:22.840 --> 00:38:26.800
So people who had access
just bought it
00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:30.720
in large quantities
and sold it later.
00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:38.360
They weren\'t banned
00:38:38.520 --> 00:38:40.800
but some drugstores
would not sell condoms.
00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:44.040
One lady behind a counter
once said to me:
00:38:44.200 --> 00:38:48.000
\"You should be ashamed,
you scamp!\"
00:38:48.160 --> 00:38:49.320
This was back then.
00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:53.480
So I went out, and right
on the corner,
00:38:54.200 --> 00:38:57.720
there was a kiosk.
00:38:57.880 --> 00:38:59.920
As I was leaving, I hear...
00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:07.320
The owner, Maria,
was known by everyone in Rota.
00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:11.320
And she goes:
\"I have them in every color!\"
00:39:13.960 --> 00:39:15.640
But it wasn\'t just that.
00:39:15.800 --> 00:39:20.680
Whatever you wanted, she\'d take out
the Navy Exchange catalogue.
00:39:20.840 --> 00:39:22.360
\"What do you want to have?\"
00:39:22.520 --> 00:39:23.880
If you wanted a stereo :
00:39:24.040 --> 00:39:27.480
\"Music section,
you\'ll have it here on Friday.\"
00:39:27.640 --> 00:39:30.640
I have been very respectful,
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:33.000
but I took many things.
00:39:33.160 --> 00:39:36.800
I\'d ask, \"give me this\"
and \"give me that\".
00:39:37.600 --> 00:39:42.520
Once, Captain Young told me:
00:39:42.680 --> 00:39:45.040
\"Father,
if you continue taking things,
00:39:45.200 --> 00:39:47.440
we\'re going to have to swim back
to America\".
00:39:47.600 --> 00:39:51.640
I took everything I could.
Everyone knew
00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:57.760
that all of it was
for the people of Rota.
00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:04.360
The chaplain from the Daedalus
said to me once:
00:40:04.520 --> 00:40:08.680
\"Juan, I bought a stereo,
it is for a friend,
00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:11.880
but I don\'t dare
to get it off the base.
00:40:12.040 --> 00:40:13.880
Would you?\" \"Sure, I\'ll do it\"
00:40:14.040 --> 00:40:17.320
\"Put it here next to me, on the seat\".
00:40:18.520 --> 00:40:21.360
\"But, they are going
to see the box!\"
00:40:21.520 --> 00:40:25.800
I said: \"That\'s because
I\'m going to tell them the truth!\"
00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:30.360
And as we get to the gates,
00:40:30.520 --> 00:40:32.200
the Spanish Guards stop us:
00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:33.880
\"What\'s up, Father Juan?\"
00:40:34.040 --> 00:40:35.560
\"Just smuggling, you see!\"
00:40:35.720 --> 00:40:38.120
\"Always joking, Father!\"
And we got through.
00:40:46.240 --> 00:40:48.320
My brother had a record player
00:40:48.480 --> 00:40:51.600
very rare
at that time in Spain...
00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:53.680
bought on base.
00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:57.000
A Philco,
the American Philips brand,
00:40:57.160 --> 00:41:00.520
and he would listen
to some music...
00:41:04.160 --> 00:41:06.880
but I was mostly influenced
00:41:07.040 --> 00:41:11.680
by a black man married
to a woman from Rota.
00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:15.960
His name was Chase.
He owned a bar, Chase\'s Place,
00:41:17.520 --> 00:41:21.040
where he used to play
the bass guitar.
00:41:21.200 --> 00:41:24.800
I would sit there,
listening to him.
00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:29.400
I guess, he figured out
I liked his music
00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:34.040
and he gave me all the records
he didn\'t listen to anymore.
00:41:34.200 --> 00:41:37.200
So that\'s how
I started to listen
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:41.720
to all that blues, jazz, rock
and all those new rhythms.
00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:46.360
They took great care
of their soldiers,
00:41:46.520 --> 00:41:48.840
at their overseas destinations,
00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:51.160
to make them feel at home.
00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:53.680
Records arrived here
at the same time
00:41:53.840 --> 00:41:56.000
than in New York, Chicago, London.
00:41:56.160 --> 00:41:58.920
We would all chip in
and buy a record,
00:41:59.080 --> 00:42:01.440
go home and listen to it
00:42:01.600 --> 00:42:04.080
until we burned the groove.
00:42:04.240 --> 00:42:09.160
A new Beatles album
was released in the UK,
00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:14.040
in Spain it would take six months,
eight months,
00:42:14.200 --> 00:42:16.720
even a year
until it hit the shelves.
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:19.760
Or be banned and never arrive.
00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:42.600
For us, their radio station was
00:43:43.360 --> 00:43:46.640
as if a Martian was talking to you
right now.
00:43:47.160 --> 00:43:50.520
Music was everywhere in Rota.
00:43:50.680 --> 00:43:52.680
You would walk down the street
00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:54.520
step into some place
and Bob Dylan
00:43:54.680 --> 00:43:56.360
would be playing on the radio.
00:43:56.520 --> 00:43:59.680
You\'d wonder:
\"Who the hell is this guy?\"
00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:02.760
It was our great treasure
\"on the air\".
00:44:02.920 --> 00:44:04.640
Just by pushing a button
00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:08.640
we had access
to all that brand new music
00:44:08.800 --> 00:44:11.280
from all around the world.
00:44:11.440 --> 00:44:14.040
That would take so long
to come to Spain, if ever...
00:45:22.120 --> 00:45:26.320
Our teenage amusement was
basically music.
00:45:27.200 --> 00:45:29.840
One thing lead
to another and...
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:32.440
so we tried to have a band.
00:45:32.600 --> 00:45:36.000
We were very young, around 12.
00:45:36.160 --> 00:45:38.080
I played guitar.
00:45:38.240 --> 00:45:40.760
I attached some metal strings
to a Spanish guitar.
00:45:40.920 --> 00:45:43.040
They would cut
into my fingertips
00:45:43.200 --> 00:45:45.080
The bass player
took a Spanish guitar,
00:45:45.240 --> 00:45:47.280
got rid of 2 strings leaving 4
00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:52.880
and the drummer took
some cardboard detergent boxes.
00:45:53.040 --> 00:45:56.800
Cut them, lined them
with showy paper,
00:45:57.520 --> 00:45:59.720
and made a drum set.
00:46:01.040 --> 00:46:04.080
One of the members
of The Radar\'s
00:46:04.240 --> 00:46:05.800
was a carpenter,
00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:09.160
a cabinetmaker, very fine one.
00:46:09.320 --> 00:46:13.320
He made, by hand, the necks
00:46:13.480 --> 00:46:17.880
and cut the guitar bodies
with a saw.
00:46:19.880 --> 00:46:22.720
When the Americans arrived,
00:46:22.880 --> 00:46:26.040
that\'s when we started
to see electric guitars around town.
00:46:26.200 --> 00:46:28.040
A colleague had one,
00:46:28.200 --> 00:46:30.040
which he had bought from one guy
00:46:30.200 --> 00:46:32.440
which had gotten it from the base.
00:46:32.600 --> 00:46:35.080
We bought it from them.
00:46:35.240 --> 00:46:42.400
That\'s how I got my first
Fender guitar in 66 or 67.
00:46:42.560 --> 00:46:46.480
It was Telecaster that had had
3 or 4 previous owners.
00:46:47.800 --> 00:46:52.200
The first Fender I had,
I bought in 1968
00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:55.080
and it cost 31.000 pesetas.
00:46:55.240 --> 00:46:57.800
It was manufactured in the US.
00:46:59.120 --> 00:47:00.800
31.000 pesetas!
00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:05.080
In the 60\'s! That\'s like
20 paychecks today.
00:47:05.240 --> 00:47:07.640
Completely out of reach for us.
00:47:07.800 --> 00:47:09.680
Like thinking about
paying a deposit
00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:11.360
for a flat being 12 years old.
00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:33.720
Within the base,
there were several clubs.
00:47:33.880 --> 00:47:36.440
the Officers,
Non-Commisioned Officers
00:47:36.600 --> 00:47:38.840
or Troops clubs that were huge.
00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:40.840
They had different music bands
00:47:41.000 --> 00:47:42.840
rotating from club to club,
00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:45.760
playing for a few months.
00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:47.760
And there were some
00:47:47.920 --> 00:47:49.920
that stayed all year round.
00:47:52.600 --> 00:47:57.520
Playing on the base opened up
another dimension for us.
00:47:57.680 --> 00:48:01.520
There were places to play,
00:48:01.680 --> 00:48:04.640
they paid very well
and if you were hired
00:48:04.800 --> 00:48:07.200
you had feathered your nest.
00:48:07.360 --> 00:48:09.480
We started playing
at the Teen Club.
00:48:09.640 --> 00:48:13.400
This was the gym
where all kids would gather.
00:48:13.560 --> 00:48:16.160
Like in the movies!
We thought we were in America.
00:48:56.720 --> 00:48:59.520
Teen Club
was a breaking point for us.
00:48:59.680 --> 00:49:01.320
We sang in English,
00:49:01.480 --> 00:49:03.880
had access
to another type of music,
00:49:04.040 --> 00:49:07.600
but, mostly, because
the audience was very demanding.
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:10.760
They only wanted rock\'n\'roll.
00:49:10.920 --> 00:49:13.520
I only remember playing
one single ballad.
00:49:49.880 --> 00:49:51.680
I arrived here at the age of 14
00:49:51.840 --> 00:49:55.680
and my mother told me: \"Don\'t you dare
going to San Fernando Avenue!\"
00:49:56.560 --> 00:50:01.000
We would take detours
on our way to High School
00:50:01.800 --> 00:50:05.760
ignoring our family\'s advice
not to go near San Fernando Avenue.
00:50:05.920 --> 00:50:08.200
It was just so much more fun!
00:50:08.360 --> 00:50:10.240
Rota was just
two different towns in one.
00:50:10.400 --> 00:50:13.960
The traditional one
that ran down Calvario Street,
00:50:14.120 --> 00:50:15.640
and the other one,
00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:18.480
the American one,
San Fernando avenue,
00:50:18.640 --> 00:50:20.120
with all the bars...
00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:34.080
Janet came from London,
00:50:34.240 --> 00:50:35.800
very pretty,
00:50:36.600 --> 00:50:43.720
and dressed in a way
we weren\'t used to in Rota.
00:50:44.720 --> 00:50:49.200
She was very beautiful,
with her miniskirt,
00:50:49.360 --> 00:50:55.200
and her coat,
a kind of fur jacket...
00:50:55.360 --> 00:50:59.080
...I just went nuts!
00:51:01.560 --> 00:51:05.240
I arrived December \'72.
00:51:06.080 --> 00:51:09.440
No more than 5 pounds
in my pocket
00:51:09.600 --> 00:51:12.720
My parents told me: \"But,
what are you going to do for a living?
00:51:12.880 --> 00:51:14.880
What will you do?\"
00:51:15.040 --> 00:51:18.880
Next day, I was working
at the Crazy Cat!
00:51:23.040 --> 00:51:24.360
There were lots of bars.
00:51:24.520 --> 00:51:29.400
I told my mother: \"This is like
Las Vegas, but in the southeast!\"
00:51:29.560 --> 00:51:31.720
All kind of people on the streets.
00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:33.840
Rota was quite colorful.
00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:36.400
Many, many parties!
00:51:36.560 --> 00:51:40.400
a bar out of town that was,
let\'s say, a bit unlawful...
00:51:40.560 --> 00:51:43.040
Rota was like a tiny New York.
00:51:43.200 --> 00:51:44.840
It never slept.
00:51:45.520 --> 00:51:48.160
After work, at 3 am
00:51:48.320 --> 00:51:51.720
or sometimes at 4 or 5,
you could go downtown
00:51:51.880 --> 00:51:54.400
and there would be
an open place for a coffee,
00:51:54.560 --> 00:51:58.720
hamburgers, pizzas...
some place was always open.
00:52:02.800 --> 00:52:05.640
This guy, Blue Star\'s DJ,
00:52:05.800 --> 00:52:09.080
told us the owner of the bar
wanted to transfer it.
00:52:09.240 --> 00:52:11.480
We, jokingly, said:
00:52:11.640 --> 00:52:15.440
\"Ask him,
if he would transfer it to us!\".
00:52:19.480 --> 00:52:23.240
We wanted people from Rota
to come
00:52:23.400 --> 00:52:24.880
But it didn\'t happen...
00:52:25.040 --> 00:52:30.000
maybe because of those
two different identities in Rota.
00:52:44.400 --> 00:52:47.440
Most were just boys,
18 or 19 years old.
00:52:47.600 --> 00:52:51.120
Volunteers, so they would avoid
00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:53.600
being drafted for Vietnam.
00:52:53.760 --> 00:52:56.240
There was a lot of hooliganism
00:52:57.040 --> 00:53:02.280
Soldiers, coming back from Vietnam.
Having suffered a lot.
00:53:02.440 --> 00:53:05.520
They would disembark here
00:53:05.680 --> 00:53:07.440
and cause some trouble.
00:53:31.400 --> 00:53:35.560
That typical scene
in American movies,
00:53:35.720 --> 00:53:39.200
everybody punching everybody,
well, it\'s all true!
00:53:43.320 --> 00:53:45.440
I was patrolling
with a local policeman.
00:53:45.600 --> 00:53:48.320
He goes:
\"Look what\'s going on over there!\"
00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:49.800
Bim! Bam! Boom!
00:53:49.960 --> 00:53:53.000
A huge fight! And they see us:
00:53:53.160 --> 00:54:02.120
\"Hey, Spanish Police!,
Spanish Police!
00:54:02.280 --> 00:54:05.360
Suddenly,
everybody was friendly,
00:54:05.520 --> 00:54:07.200
\"He\'s my friend, my friend!\"
00:54:07.360 --> 00:54:09.320
\"My friend?
Look at your bloody face,
00:54:09.480 --> 00:54:11.040
what sort of friends
do you have?\"
00:54:20.280 --> 00:54:22.120
We called them \"chopatró\",
00:54:22.280 --> 00:54:24.200
Military Police.
00:54:24.360 --> 00:54:26.120
\"Shore Patrol\"
is how it was written
00:54:26.280 --> 00:54:27.840
and we said \"chopatró\"...
00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:30.480
I always heard them say
\"Chopatró\".
00:54:30.640 --> 00:54:32.760
They carried nightsticks
made out of wood.
00:54:32.920 --> 00:54:35.920
If people made trouble
or were wasted
00:54:36.080 --> 00:54:39.240
they hit them here
and lifted them.
00:54:39.400 --> 00:54:41.480
They picked them up,
against the wall,
00:54:42.480 --> 00:54:46.800
The left them all messed-up.
00:54:46.960 --> 00:54:48.680
Like in the westerns,
00:54:48.840 --> 00:54:52.160
when the drunk cowboys
were kicked out
00:54:52.320 --> 00:54:54.160
of the saloon.
00:54:54.320 --> 00:54:56.160
They loaded them onto the van
00:54:56.320 --> 00:54:58.600
and put them in cells,
00:54:58.760 --> 00:55:02.280
where they would spend
the night and sober up.
00:55:14.280 --> 00:55:17.080
I was coming out of the library,
I\'ll never forget.
00:55:17.240 --> 00:55:19.160
I saw a huge line of men waiting
00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:22.800
to go into a brothel
on San Fernando Avenue.
00:55:22.960 --> 00:55:24.760
My friends told me,
00:55:24.920 --> 00:55:28.920
when the Sixth Fleet arrived in Rota,
we had to stay home.
00:55:29.080 --> 00:55:31.160
It was bursting girls
on both sidewalks,
00:55:31.800 --> 00:55:35.040
waiting for the soldiers,
to stroll down from the base.
00:55:35.720 --> 00:55:41.760
They would go out
in different turns
00:55:42.560 --> 00:55:45.280
Imagine, six thousand teenagers
00:55:45.440 --> 00:55:47.760
all at once in a small town...
00:56:02.680 --> 00:56:05.280
So, I received this letter
00:56:05.440 --> 00:56:09.640
from the Chief Admiral
of the Sixth Fleet.
00:56:09.800 --> 00:56:14.240
Apparently, several members
of the crew
00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:17.520
had venereal diseases.
00:56:17.680 --> 00:56:21.000
Even the American ambassador in Spain,
Biddle Duke, came to Rota.
00:56:21.160 --> 00:56:22.800
He asked me:
\"What happens in Rota?\"
00:56:22.960 --> 00:56:25.680
\"Nothing. I\'m going to show you
what happens in Rota!\"
00:56:26.320 --> 00:56:31.680
So, I showed him all the bars
and the two cabarets.
00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:33.400
\"This is all?\", he asked.
00:56:33.560 --> 00:56:35.560
\"This is all, Mr. Duke\"
00:56:36.560 --> 00:56:41.000
\"Well, OK\". And he left,
never to be heard of.
00:56:43.080 --> 00:56:47.400
Prostitutes
were really exploited.
00:56:47.560 --> 00:56:50.400
{\\an8}Back then,
prostitution was illegal,
00:56:50.560 --> 00:56:52.880
{\\an8}so there were some ways
00:56:53.040 --> 00:56:55.560
to turn the illegal into legal.
00:56:55.960 --> 00:56:57.320
It was agreed
00:56:57.480 --> 00:56:59.680
that prostitutes
would be registered
00:56:59.840 --> 00:57:01.120
{\\an8}as food manipulators.
00:57:01.280 --> 00:57:03.640
{\\an8}Owners of nightclubs
00:57:03.800 --> 00:57:05.760
had an official list
00:57:05.920 --> 00:57:08.680
with all waitresses on it
00:57:08.840 --> 00:57:11.520
and when
American authorities arrived
00:57:11.680 --> 00:57:14.280
to inspect them,
they could prove
00:57:14.440 --> 00:57:18.200
all waitresses had passed
a medical test
00:57:18.360 --> 00:57:20.200
and were \"clean\".
00:57:22.440 --> 00:57:25.160
Prostitution left
a lot of money in town,
00:57:25.320 --> 00:57:29.840
even though authorities
thought it was
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:32.640
against the religious morality.
00:57:32.800 --> 00:57:35.600
They even created
a religious commission
00:57:35.760 --> 00:57:37.320
to protect women
00:57:37.480 --> 00:57:41.680
from bad influence
from women out of town.
00:57:41.840 --> 00:57:45.520
A judge from Sevilla
wrote me a letter.
00:57:45.680 --> 00:57:51.400
\"Juan, you and I can do
really good things in Rota\"
00:57:52.840 --> 00:57:56.440
His solution was putting
all prostitutes in jail.
00:57:56.600 --> 00:58:00.680
I had other means:
00:58:00.840 --> 00:58:05.840
I would marry them.
I married many girls.
00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:10.840
Almost all married american men.
None married a Spanish man.
00:58:30.120 --> 00:58:33.160
We always had warnings:
00:58:33.320 --> 00:58:34.960
do not get into trouble,
00:58:35.120 --> 00:58:37.800
don\'t talk politics,
don\'t talk religion
00:58:37.960 --> 00:58:39.360
don\'t harass girls,
00:58:39.520 --> 00:58:42.720
or do anything that is not
completely respectable.
00:58:42.880 --> 00:58:47.560
But there are always some rotten
apples in a basket, aren\'t they?
00:58:47.720 --> 00:58:53.520
There were always some guys
causing trouble.
00:59:00.080 --> 00:59:03.320
Yes, I had one big, big problem.
00:59:04.000 --> 00:59:07.920
Americans were celebrating
Independence Day,
00:59:08.840 --> 00:59:11.520
A few of them
drove back from the beach
00:59:11.680 --> 00:59:13.200
completely drunk.
00:59:13.360 --> 00:59:20.000
There were three kids
on a donkey pulled by a man.
00:59:25.120 --> 00:59:27.440
The car went off the road
00:59:27.600 --> 00:59:31.320
and they hit the donkey
and the kids!
00:59:31.480 --> 00:59:33.560
They killed them.
00:59:33.720 --> 00:59:36.280
That caused
a huge uproar in town!
00:59:46.400 --> 00:59:50.040
The kids were buried
the next day.
00:59:50.200 --> 00:59:52.760
Navy compensated their mother
00:59:52.920 --> 00:59:56.240
giving her a job on the base.
00:59:56.400 --> 00:59:59.520
The case
was never heard of again.
01:00:52.080 --> 01:00:55.720
When Felipe González
became president of the Government,
01:00:55.880 --> 01:00:59.440
he announced, no more
atomic submarines in Spain.
01:00:59.600 --> 01:01:00.680
They had to go.
01:01:00.840 --> 01:01:04.960
The arrival of Polaris
nuclear submarines was banned.
01:01:05.120 --> 01:01:07.960
But we really can\'t tell
if that\'s the truth.
01:01:08.120 --> 01:01:13.160
There\'s this pact between American
and Spanish authorities.
01:01:13.320 --> 01:01:15.840
They don\'t interfere with each other.
01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:18.240
And all is subjected
to some secret agreements.
01:01:18.400 --> 01:01:20.360
It was considered
politically correct
01:01:20.520 --> 01:01:22.640
to not have
any more nuclear missiles here.
01:01:22.800 --> 01:01:27.440
But many jobs were lost.
01:01:27.600 --> 01:01:32.800
We lost four thousand clients.
We had to lay off people.
01:01:32.960 --> 01:01:34.760
It was terrible because
01:01:34.920 --> 01:01:40.320
many received the letter
and thought it was a bonus!
01:01:57.920 --> 01:02:04.160
All that landscape
created around the Americans
01:02:04.320 --> 01:02:06.720
started to fade, to vanish,
to a degree where
01:02:06.880 --> 01:02:09.160
many people came to town and said:
01:02:09.320 --> 01:02:12.200
\"It doesn\'t look like
there\'s an American base here.
01:02:12.360 --> 01:02:16.080
You don\'t even see
Americans on the streets.\"
01:02:16.240 --> 01:02:18.280
And it was true.
01:02:18.440 --> 01:02:22.680
Almost all the businesses
created around them, gone.
01:02:22.840 --> 01:02:27.880
They had very
little presence in town.
01:03:41.040 --> 01:03:45.120
When the ships went away,
things went downhill for Rota.
01:03:45.280 --> 01:03:47.200
Everyone noticed it.
01:03:47.360 --> 01:03:51.920
They had brought so many jobs!
So many jobs...
01:03:56.160 --> 01:03:58.760
When I gave up the taxi business,
01:03:58.920 --> 01:04:01.160
I focused on the family winery.
01:04:01.320 --> 01:04:03.600
I sold wine at the base,
01:04:03.760 --> 01:04:07.080
I went in, went out...
I had a pass.
01:04:07.240 --> 01:04:10.560
I don\'t know what\'s going on
there, now.
01:04:11.040 --> 01:04:14.080
It\'s been almost 40 years
since I haven\'t been inside.
01:06:33.360 --> 01:06:34.960
I liked those times,
01:06:35.120 --> 01:06:39.760
the harmony we had
with the Shore Patrol.
01:06:39.920 --> 01:06:44.440
We were doing services together
01:06:44.600 --> 01:06:50.560
from late \'57 to June \'74.
01:06:50.720 --> 01:06:52.960
So many years together!
01:06:57.640 --> 01:06:59.680
His name was Wence Martínez.
01:06:59.840 --> 01:07:01.680
He had a lot of money.
01:07:01.840 --> 01:07:05.160
and he took me on a trip
all around the States.
01:07:05.320 --> 01:07:08.800
We went to Arizona,
Nevada, Las Vegas.
01:07:08.960 --> 01:07:12.440
We also were in California,
in Mexico.
01:07:12.600 --> 01:07:14.720
Also in Colorado.
01:07:34.160 --> 01:07:37.000
Having this base here
01:07:37.160 --> 01:07:40.200
puts a target on us
01:07:40.360 --> 01:07:43.160
in case the US
should get into any conflicts,
01:07:43.320 --> 01:07:46.400
which is quite often, honestly.
01:07:46.560 --> 01:07:49.200
But it\'s been around for so long
and nothing has ever happened.
01:07:49.360 --> 01:07:53.760
It\'s just another
part of town for us.
01:07:53.920 --> 01:07:56.680
and people just don\'t think
anything will happen.
01:07:56.840 --> 01:07:59.080
We are in danger.
01:07:59.240 --> 01:08:03.520
Any lunatic can drop a missile,
by mistake...
01:08:03.680 --> 01:08:06.000
we do know that.
01:08:09.720 --> 01:08:12.760
I do understand that no country
01:08:12.920 --> 01:08:18.160
wants to have a foreign army
on its soil, right?
01:08:18.320 --> 01:08:22.160
But it was really good for Rota.
01:08:22.320 --> 01:08:25.560
It was great,
what the Americans brought here.
01:08:25.720 --> 01:08:29.320
Despite all this
\"Yankees go home!\" nonsense.
01:08:29.480 --> 01:08:33.480
From being in the sea, night and day,
01:08:33.640 --> 01:08:36.120
up to my nose in shit,
having really bad times
01:08:36.280 --> 01:08:38.520
to having my own home,
01:08:38.680 --> 01:08:41.080
knowing I would receive
my paycheck,
01:08:41.240 --> 01:08:44.160
food for my kids,
even cars for them.
01:08:44.320 --> 01:08:48.680
Do you realize
what that means for a family?
01:09:23.440 --> 01:09:25.080
The people of Rota,
01:09:25.240 --> 01:09:28.400
they were on their own,
with their stew pots,
01:09:28.560 --> 01:09:33.960
their donkeys,
their fiestas and then...
01:09:34.120 --> 01:09:40.760
this was a tsunami for them.
01:09:42.880 --> 01:09:49.480
After all, they were really brave
01:09:49.640 --> 01:09:52.280
facing the change
and adapting to it.
01:09:52.440 --> 01:09:56.080
It had to be
an enormous shock for them.
01:10:01.440 --> 01:10:03.800
The town\'s identity
was lost for some time.
01:10:04.440 --> 01:10:05.680
That huge change,
01:10:05.840 --> 01:10:08.120
the people, the money.
01:10:08.280 --> 01:10:11.040
It slowly came back
01:10:11.200 --> 01:10:16.160
and the town found
its own idiosyncrasy.
01:10:16.880 --> 01:10:21.200
The Feria, Saint Isidro,
Our Lady of Carmel,
01:10:21.360 --> 01:10:24.640
all those things
that had vanished for some time,
01:10:25.520 --> 01:10:27.440
they came back and...
01:10:27.600 --> 01:10:30.480
There are so many
churches in town now...
01:10:56.880 --> 01:10:58.400
They had to come
from other towns
01:10:58.560 --> 01:10:59.920
to tell us how different it was.
01:11:00.080 --> 01:11:01.880
Visiting surrounding towns,
01:11:02.040 --> 01:11:05.040
those where the strange ones...
01:11:05.200 --> 01:11:07.360
not ours!
Distributor: Pragda Films
Length: 75 minutes
Date: 2019
Genre: Expository
Language: Spanish
Grade: High School, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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