Socialist deputy in Les Corts Mercedes Caballero concluded the Requena Book Fair this Sunday with the presentation of her book La soledad del pecado. The fictional work tackles the reality of newborn theft for adoption during the Franco dictatorship and even the early 1980s.
Invited by the association Mujeres por Derecho de Requena, Caballero brought her work, now in its third edition, to Requena. It addresses a reality unknown to many, which, over 50 years after the end of the dictatorship, continues to stir consciences with investigations confirming how, for decades and systemically, the Patronato de Protección a la Mujer, in collusion with religious orders and other bodies, created a system of confinement for pregnant young women, abduction of newborns, and subsequent adoption.
For Caballero, who was joined at the presentation by the provincial deputy for Equality until 2023, Eli García, this work (her first novel) "aims to be a small contribution to making known what happened and shedding light on what occurred during Franco's regime. In the current context, where there are voices legitimizing the dictatorship over democracy, it is important to reveal these horrors".
La soledad del pecado also analyzes the double victimization of women during this long period of history. "Even the family, in such a context (with a teenage pregnancy), does not side with their daughter in order to protect the family's social reputation".
During the presentation at the municipal library, Eli García defended Caballero's crucial role: "She is deeply committed to democratic memory, recognition of victims, exiles, and the fight to recover those still in mass graves today, and within all of this, defending the role of women as double victims of the entire system".
