The swimming pool as a site of subversion during the Spanish transition : The case of Pepito Piscina (Delgado 1978)

In Spain, shortly after Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, an array of comedy films was made which used partial nudity and irreverent jokes as a way to contest the old regime’s prohibitions. Known as ‘El destape’, the years of transition to democracy where literally all about ‘uncovering’ –as the Spanish word suggests- that which was previously forbidden by film censors. The prudish moral and catholic values were challenged with stories of scams and brazen affairs normally interpreted by a macho character. Accordingly, this article aims to explore how the swimming pool acts as a site of conflict where the afore-censured values were subverted in the film by Luis María Delgado called Pepito piscinas (1977). Moreover, this text will also analyze to what extent the swimming pool puts the representation of certain stereotypes and gender conventions into play, particularly significant at a transitional time when those roles were called into question.