In 1974, Spanish men had to serve in the army for a period of three years. In Spain, the joke was: Why does a Spanish policeman’s hat have three corners? So he can lean against a wall easier. The next year, the dictator Francisco Franco died, which was a huge relief. Everyone understood that the draft law would not survive the new socialist government. Nobody knew when the draft would be abolished. Just as the Lost Generation of Hemingway and Fitzgerald were driven to France by Prohibition, an entire generation of the most intelligent and creative Spaniards came to New York, about 60,000 people determined not to spend their youth leaning against a wall carrying a submachine gun. In art, this explosion of activity was called the movida madrileña or the Madrid Movement.
