Bicycles Are for the Summer (Spanish: Las bicicletas son para el verano) is a Spanish play written by Fernando Fernán Gómez in 1977, who received the Lope de Vega Prize [es] in 1978.
The play starts in 1936 just before the Spanish civil war starts, In Madrid, the family of Don Luis, his wife Dolores and their children, Manolita and Luisito, share the daily life of the Civil War with their maid and neighbours.
the bicycle symbolises luisitos innocence disappearing as at the beginning he wants a bicycle to hang out with his friends and meet girls but by the end due to the horror of the war Luisito had to grow up and become the man of the house and his bike symbolises responsibilities he has to have for his family.
However, the war dashes these hopes and dreams and leaves him as the head of his family, having to abandon his education and childhood.
Whilst she is easily persuaded by her husband, she often disapproves of the direction her daughter's career is taking at the beginning of the play and enjoys her traditional way of life.
However, by the play's end, Manolita has a baby with a soldier who dies; has had to give up her career; and is doomed to a life of subservience at the hands of the Spanish State.
Pablo also loses much of his childhood but is able to live with his parents in a privileged franquista area of Spain.