Adultery in Francoist Spain and the democratic transition was a criminal offense which was defined as sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband, and could lead to prison terms of between six months and six years.
This finally happened on 26 May 1978 when adultery was eliminated as a criminal offense in Spain's penal code, with the repeal of Articles 449 and 452.
[5] For example, until 1975, without her husband's consent (referred to as permiso marital), a wife was prohibited from employment, traveling away from home, and property ownership.
[10] Article 449 of the Penal Code stated, "Adultery will be punished with the penalty of minor prison terms.
"[11][12] A woman could not report her husband to the authorities for committing acts of infidelity, unless he kept a mistress inside the conjugal house or flagrantly outside it, and this crime was almost never prosecuted.
[13] The regime's adultery laws were based on the Siete Partidas, established by Alfonso X, and designed to punish women for having sex outside of marriage.
The code said, "The husband who, if his wife is caught in adultery, will kill the woman or the adulterer on the spot or cause them one of the serious injuries, will be punished with banishment.
"[19] The blood revenge law was rescinded in 1963, with husbands and fathers no longer having the right to kill wives or daughters caught engaging in elicit sex acts.
Women found themselves there for a wide variety of offenses including adultery, divorce or lesbian relationships.
[21] In the immediate post-Franco era, feminists in Spain were united in their goal to eliminate the law that made adultery a criminal offense.
[11] At the time, Benito was a 21-year-old medical student from Zaragoza while Muñoz was a 30-year-old domestic worker living in Barcelona.
[14] The prosecutor requested Benito be imprisoned for six years, pay a fine of 5 million pesetas and lose custody of her children.
She also started a letter writing campaign, including contacting the Minister of Justice and the President of the Government Carlos Arias Navarro.
"[14] The judge ruled the case unproven as the husband was not able to certify that the man's penis had penetrated his wife's vagina.
The husband withdrew his adultery complaint and signed an agreement that where both sides said they believed it in the best interest of the child for her to live with her mother.
[14] During the early and mid-1970s, the Supreme Court received a large number of appeals from women over their adultery convictions.
A man with the initials MDL was convicted on 15 October 1976, the woman concerned being successfully granted her appeal a year and a half later.
The Supreme Court commented, "Nothing is said in the judgment appealed regarding the fact that the defendant had knowledge of the woman's marital status."
Another woman who had a relationship was less fortunate, with the Supreme Court dismissing her appeal despite her claim that she had received permission from her husband.
The court said in rejecting the appeal, "There was no consent, because although the husband knew about the behavior of his wife, he could not exercise the action while the guilty party lived abroad."
[11] National Federation of Progressive Women President Yolanda Besteiro de la Fuente said of the rescinding of this law, "It meant overcoming a historical discrimination of women, who could be punished with six years in prison if they committed adultery, faced with the impunity of this same behavior if committed by a man.
It consecrated the freedom of women in their sexual relations and produced an authentic social transformation changing the traditional concept of marriage and, therefore, of the family.