Con Ustedes, Los Beatles: 50 years ago

This was the set list. 1. "Twist And Shout". 2. "She's A Woman". 3. "I'm A Loser". 4. "Can't Buy Me Love". 5. "Baby's In Black". 6. "I Wanna Be Your Man". 7. "A Hard Day's Night". 8. "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby". 9. "Rock And Roll Music". 10. "I Feel Fine". 11. "Ticket To Ride". 12. "Long Tall Sally".

When this set list had been played in other European cities, the songs would not have been heard above the screams. This was the set list for the first performance of The Beatles in Spain. The day was 2 July, 1965. The place was the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid. There was to be only one other concert in Spain, the next day at the bullring in Barcelona.

It is said that the atmosphere and the sound were better in Barcelona, but neither concert was like it would have been in cities in countries that were not living under the repressive instincts of the Franco regime. At 10pm on the night of 2 July, the introduction was made - "señoras y señores con ustedes, Los Beatles". "Ustedes" summed it up: the formal form of you. The arena was only half full. Potential attendees had been deterred by concerns of police surveillance and bans by their parents. There was another reason for the low attendance: The Beatles weren't anything like as well known as they were in, say, Germany, France or Sweden. For a kick-off, their records couldn't be openly bought. Radio disc jockeys of the time had to go to London to acquire them.

Before the concerts, it was reckoned that, at most, 3,500 copies of Beatles' albums were owned across Spain. A Beatles' album in the UK would clear one million copies. This was one reason why Brian Epstein was reluctant to have the "boys" play Spain. He couldn't see there was any business advantage. Yet, of those 3,500 copies, some 2,000 were acquired by people who probably didn't even have a record-player; there were only 1,500 registered sales at that time. It was this fact that promoter Francisco Bermúdez used in persuading Epstein. If people would buy records even if they didn't have the means to play them indicated a demand, to which could be added the "underground" of listening to what were meant to have been forbidden foreign radio stations. 

Bermúdez had stuck his neck out in bringing The Beatles to Spain, and the promotion was certainly not plain sailing: not anything like it. A further reason for low sales was that tickets and posters were seized by the authorities which had sought to prevent the concerts going ahead. They were only released a week ahead of the Madrid concert, the regime having had a change of heart and the interior ministry having finally given permission. To have banned the concerts, the regime concluded, could have provoked a diplomatic row with Britain: the members of The Beatles had just been named in The Queen's birthday honours list.

Bermúdez also had to contend with fierce criticism from the Catholic Church and almost all the press. Threats to morality, threats of revolutionary thought, threats of "riots", threats to the regime and to "Spanishness". It is remarkable, given all the background, that the concerts ever went ahead.

John, Paul, George and Ringo arrived at Madrid airport at twenty to six on the afternoon of 1 July. Wild scenes of their arrival at other airports were not replicated, though somehow some 200 fans had managed to congregate to greet them, despite the heavy police presence. They stayed at the Hotel Fénix - now the Gran Mellá Fénix - in suites 123, 223, 323 and 423. There were no parties, no real going out, though it is said that Brian went to the Bourbon club, one of the few with a "gay" ambience. They did receive one notable visitor, though: the bullfighter El Cordobés, who wanted his photo taken with them. There were other photos to pose for. One that seems amazing now was with two officers from the Guardia Civil: John and Paul are saluting them.

The press coverage featured one double-page spread under the headline: "Los Beatles, Inhibición". There is a photo of two or three girls running with a banner which says "love you", another of five or six people dancing, a further one of The Beatles performing, John with the Cordoban hat that he wore throughout the concert. It lasted barely an hour and that was pretty much that, save for moving on to Barcelona for the second performance. It was, except for three concerts during a mini-tour of Germany the next summer, the last time The Beatles performed in Europe.

Last night at the Gran Mellá Fénix a special fiftieth anniversary occasion would have cost up to 1,425 euros. In 1965, the concert cost as little as 75 pesetas.