Rainbow Tour
"Let's hear it for the Rainbow Tour
It's been an incredible success."
-EVITA, "Rainbow Tour."
The Rainbow Tour, the Peron's first official State Visit, happened soon after Clne. Juan Peron's election as President of Argentina. The Peron's were eager to rub elbows with the government's elite in Europe, especially that of Spain. General Franco, dictator of Spain, would prove to be Peron's greatest ally in Europe (indeed the world) and help him secure his position as dictator of Argentina.
Eva left Buenos Aires with a very extensive touring schedule of Europe, with Spain as her first stop. Sra. Peron was received with great honors and joy by the people of Spain. She did in fact secure Spain as an Argentine ally. However, Sra. Peron's next stop, in Italy, would prove to be less promising. The Italian people equated Clne. Peron with Benito Mussolini's fascism of World War II, as Peron had been an officer in the Italian army during the war in Europe. The people of Italy publically called Sra. Peron a "slut" and "whore," because of her questionable past. Therefore, Italy may be described as Eva's only failure during the course of her political life and in many ways her entire life! Italy would soon prove to be an after-thought in Sra. Peron's mind after arriving in France and receiving a much more dramatic and warm welcome. France seemed to mirror her Spanish tour more closely and would prove to be more rewarding. It was during a French opera that Eva first publically displayed her disease, by collapsing during the performance.
Her tour was cut short because of her illness and she returned back home to Argentina under a banner of triumph. She had succeeded in her mission despite her collapse.