Flamboyance and wit. The promotion of film-induced tourism and Andalusian-inspired ‘brand Spain’ under the Ministry of Information and Tourism (1953-1959)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper aims to demonstrate that Hollywood film-induced tourism strategies also resonated in Spain in the 1950s, coinciding with the arrival of large contingents of American tourists in historical European cities. The use of these techniques, at a key moment of the diffident opening-up of Franco's regime, was adopted as a new and promising means to diffuse the traditionally Andalusian-inspired brand, combining the wit of Bienvenido Míster Marshall with the flamboyance of Duende y Misterio del Flamenco (both winners at Cannes 1953), and taking as a model pioneering films such as Roman holiday, 1953 and Summertime, 1955. To this end, the promotional strategies of 6 films featuring tourists and shot in Andalusia during the period 1953–1959 are analysed. The results, computerised using NVivo software, suggest, not only the use of wit and flamboyance, but also the display of inductive techniques such as the depiction of an open tourist context, the mobilisation of tourist celebrities (Antonio ‘the dancer’, Pedro de Córdoba, Pastora Imperio, Dolores Vargas or Carmen Sevilla), as well as the portrayal of Spanish culture for foreign tourists in search of authenticity, with characters performed by international players (Geneviève Page, Merle Oberon, Vittorio De Sica or Ludmilla Tchérina).