In the midst of a serious crisis in Spain, this article looks at the personal experiences of Communism from the perspective of a professional diplomat: as a young boy and student under General Franco’s dictatorship, university studies, beginning of a Diplomatic Career, first post in the Dominican Republic. The author describes what he calls his anti-communist vaccine having spent four years (1968-1972) in Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania, as a Spanish diplomatic envoy, in the first Spanish delegation to a former Eastern European country as Franco’s regime slowly established relations with the Warsaw Pact countries. He evokes the discovery of Romanian language and culture, memories and experiences, consular issues, the Sephardim, the essence of the country and the last years of Ceausescu’s tyranny. The article describes the author’s special mission to East Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1977 to handle the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Communist Germany after the death of Franco. It provides another perspective on the end of Communism from the other side of the Berlin Wall as the author was posted in West Berlin from 1984 to 1988. The article briefly reviews the fall of communism in Europe and the instrumental role played by Pope John Paul II and other actors. The article concludes with some positive reflections on the future of Europe and provides a personal bibliography on Romania and Central Europe.
En medio de una grave crisis para España este trabajo recoge experiencias personales de un diplomático profesional: juventud y primera madurez durante la dictadura del general Franco, estudios superiores, ingreso en la Carrera Diplomática, primer destino en la República Dominicana. Califica de primera vacuna anticomunista a sus cuatro años en la Rumanía de Nicolae Ceausescu, en la primera delegación española en el Este 1968-1972. Se refiere al idioma rumano, a recuerdos y vivencias, temas consulares, los sefarditas, las esencias del país y al fin del tirano. Se detiene en su misión especial en Berlín oriental en la RDA para gestionar en 1977 la reapertura de la embajada de España en la Alemania comunista. La caída del comunismo en Europa, su gran motor el Papa Juan Pablo II y otros protagonistas. Concluye con esperanzas de futuro y aporta una bibliografía propia sobre Rumanía y Europa central.
