Camilo José Cela wrote one of the great Spanish novels of the 20th century.
The Beehive by Camilo José Cela was published in Buenos Aires in 1951 since it had been censored in Spain by the Franco regime due to its recurrent erotic scenes. It was not until 1963, when the Minister of the Interior Manuel Fraga personally authorised the publication of the first Spanish edition. The novel, considered to be one of the great contributions of Spanish literature to the modern novel, recounts the experiences of multiple characters living in Madrid during the initial years of the Franco regime. This is why the author himself considered it to be ‘a bitter chronicle of a bitter time’, with fear being the main character in the story.
Considered to be one of the best Spanish novels in the 20th century, Mario Camus adapted it for the cinema in 1982, with Cela working as scriptwriter and actor.
