Montse Clav\u00e9\u2019s<\/a> political awareness began at an early age, shaped by the environment in which she grew up and her brother\u2019s involvement in left-wing movements. From the age of ten, she accompanied him to theatre performances in bars, community centres and shantytowns across Barcelona. The theatre group was politically committed, using its performances to engage with social issues and reach different communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThrough these experiences, Montse became familiar with discussions about social struggle and political change. Although she was still a child, the people around her and their activities introduced her to a world of political activism that would shape her own path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arrest and imprisonment under Franco\u2019s dictatorship<\/h3>\n\n\n\n In the 1960s, labour and student movements increasingly challenged Franco\u2019s dictatorship. The miners\u2019 strikes in Asturias, particularly those of 1962 and 1968, became important moments of worker mobilisation. In Barcelona, university students organised demonstrations in solidarity with the miners, demanding democracy and expressing opposition to the regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montse was among the students who took part in these demonstrations at the University of Barcelona. During one protest, the police surrounded the university, preventing students from leaving and arresting around 200 people, including Montse, who was just 16 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was taken to the police headquarters on Via Laietana, where she spent hours waiting to be questioned. She recalls hearing the screams of other detainees being beaten and tortured. Although she was released from police custody after 78 hours, she was subsequently transferred to La Model prison, where she was held in isolation for six days. As a minor, she found herself alone in an adult prison, uncertain about what was happening and deeply distressed by the thought that her family did not know where she was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montse remembers her release particularly vividly. On a rainy day, she left the prison alone, without money or anyone waiting for her. After asking for a telephone token at a nearby caf\u00e9, she was able to contact her family. The kindness of the woman who lent her the token and offered her a warm coffee remains one of the most meaningful details of this experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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