Spanish films have been known historically for their nudity and sex. Particularly during the 1990s, the international success of Pedro Almodóvar, Julio Medem, Vicente Aranda and many others contributed to this kind of notoriety, but perhaps this was not sufficient to make critics and academics appreciate the relevance of screening sex in Spanish film history. Unfortunately, the contemporary impact of Erotica and Porn Studies in Anglophone academia has not yet reached studies of Spanish cinema (especially not in Spain), and a thorough study of the complexities of performing sex onscreen is yet to be produced. As a result, there are still some areas of Spanish Porn and Erotica Studies that need intense exploration, such as the portrayal of male sexuality and bodies. This chapter analyses the representation of the eroticised male body in Spanish films of the transition to democracy, a crucial time for the understanding of visual representations of sex in Spain. I will analyse representations of the male body in erotic cinema, a genre that has not been traditionally examined from this perspective. My case of study will be the actor Tony Fuentes, who worked as a main character in six sexploitation films between 1976 and 1982. My analysis focuses on Deseo carnal/Desire of the Flesh aka Carnal Desire (dir. Manuel Iglesias, 1978) to examine the representation of the male body as a site of vulnerability, and Jóvenes viciosas/Dirty Young Ladies (dir. Manuel Iglesias, 1980) to study the homosexual body.

After 1976, as democratic values took over Spain and the country started to move from a dictatorship to a parliamentary system, there was a proliferation of erotic films, fostered by a new legislation. The Real Decreto law of 1977, which eliminated censorship, proposed the so-called ‘S’ rating for films ‘whose content or theme could damage the spectator's sensibility’ (B.O.E. 1977). The majority of films were classified ‘S’ on the basis of their sexual content. Very soon, producers learnt that they needed to find a new generation of actors and actresses willing to perform the demands of these erotic films. One of the best ways to understand the relevance of ‘S’ films is by looking at the vast presence that they had in the film magazines of the time. Film critics were inclined to analyse the popularity of ‘S’ films, rather than the films themselves (as they generally did with non-‘S’ films).