¡A la Plaza del Progreso! La dimensión espacial del proyecto utópico del librepensamiento en Madrid, 1901-1931.

Abstract

The anticlerical movement formed a project of a new society opposed to the Catholic society of the Restoration. A new man, to whom it offered a radically different way of life and a radically different cosmovision that embraced all stages and aspects of life. This text starts from the hypothesis that Restorationist anticlericalism can be considered a utopian project, articulated in a new world, a horizon of hope and a holistic dimension of life. In this essay I will analyze the spatial dimension of this Utopia. The attempt of a new society entailed the creation of utopian sites (places that anticipated the new world): permanent (schools and civic centers) or ephemeral (streets, squares, nature spaces), and others with a strong emotional content, linked to the nostalgia of the disappeared or past defeats (statues, cemetery). The hundreds of people participating in the free-thinking utopian project socialized in these spaces.