The Spanish Civil War - pg. 12

The power which was exerted over the population
was an irresistible force, backed by the threat of hell
and its earthly foretaste in the form of the Inquisition.
A single denouncer, an anonymous whisper from a
jealous enemy, was often enough for the Holy Office,
and the public confessions extracted before autos da fe
provided a striking foretaste of the totalitarianism state.
In additions the church controlled every aspect of education
and placed the entire population in a protective custody
of the mind by burning books and enforcing a cordon sanitaire
to keep out religious and political heresy. It was also the
church which vaunted the Castillian qualities like endurance
of suffering and equanimity in the face of death. It encouraged
the idea that it was better to be a starving caballero than a fat merchant.