Spain’s Democratic Transition: From Monarchy to Socialist Rule (1978-2008)
· The Democratic Spain: Monarchy of Juan Carlos I through their governments
The Government of UCD (1978-1982).
The first steps of democracy were threatened by terrorism and military coups. ETA intensified its activities with the objective of having the government accept the independence of Euskadi, completing its action through a political party, Herri Batasuna, backed by over 15% of the votes in the electoral contests. In that period, ETA terrorism, along with other groups like the Popular Front and Grape, aimed to break the credibility of the fledgling democracy and bring about a military coup. These groups directed their attacks at the state security bodies.
Following the adoption of the Constitution, legislative elections were called. Suarez returned to power, promoting the reform and achieving a new electoral victory. However, soon after, the left triumphed in local elections, following a pact between the PSOE and the PCE.
The Suarez government faced a difficult period, marked by the autonomous decentralization process, which was included in the Constitution in Articles 143 and 151. The differences between the government and the opposition were accentuated. The PSOE began a harsh critique that culminated with the presentation of a motion of censure against Suarez, but it was not successful. Suarez also faced the gradual disintegration of his own party, which lacked unity against problems such as divorce law, tax reform, and terrorism.
In the military, conspiracy rumors were almost permanent, and the climate of discontent drove some military leaders to conspire against democracy. In fact, Suarez’s resignation in January 1981 and the insults received by the King during his visit to Guernica by pro-ETA supporters, led to a military coup, citing the “necessity” that Spain was facing. Thus, on February 23, during the investiture debate for the new Prime Minister, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, a group of Civil Guards under the command of Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero stormed Congress and kidnapped the Members. Meanwhile, in Valencia, troops led by Gen. Jaime Milans del Bosch took to the streets and seized the city. In barracks across Spain, tense moments unfolded until the King’s televised address calling for the observance of constitutional order convinced the undecided and ultimately thwarted the coup.
The failure of the coup resulted in the revitalization of democracy: popular mass demonstrations and a political renewal of the spirit of consensus.
In 1979, the Spanish economy entered a negative phase: rising prices, low GDP growth, a deficit balance of payments, rising unemployment, and so on. This contributed to the self-disintegration of the UCD. In this situation, Calvo Sotelo called for early elections in August 1982, which resulted in a victory for the Socialists with an absolute majority. This marked the end of the transition and the beginning of the consolidation of democracy.
The Government of the Socialist Party (1982 to 1996).
The Socialists’ victory was due to a number of factors, including party unity, the popularity of its leader, Felipe González, a progressive and innovative electoral program that included the promise to create 800,000 jobs, the ideological renovation of its leaders, who accepted the monarchy as a form of state, the decomposition of the CDU, and the failure of the Communists to form a coalition with other related groups under the name of the United Left.
The Socialists undertook a series of economic and political reforms aimed at addressing the economic crisis, incorporating the country into the European context, and consolidating democracy. In economic policy, they implemented a hard reset, abandoning campaign promises on jobs and taking remedial measures to control inflation and public spending. They undertook the redevelopment of large public companies, closed industries, and encouraged early retirement for many workers, despite the violent disturbances that ensued. They also expanded public expenditure for the creation of state services and implemented programs to promote employment, even as unemployment continued to grow.
Since 1986, the economy was reactivated, Spain joined the European Economic Community, and the reduction of trade barriers attracted foreign investment. Trade unions (CCOO and UGT) accepted wage restraint and contained labor unrest in exchange for greater investment in public spending. When this did not happen, in 1988, the trade unions organized a massive general strike that paralyzed the country. This was the social response to government measures relating to employment and economic adjustments.
The government’s interest in creating a welfare state led to special attention being paid to pensions, health, and education. Health coverage was expanded to all citizens, multiplying the charges and streamlining its administration. Pensions were universalized, their level was raised, and unemployment benefits were encoded. In Andalusia and Extremadura, the PER (Plan Empel Rural) was implemented, which was particularly important.
Likewise, the government attempted to agree on issues such as education reform with the intention of improving university degrees in teaching and organizing public and private collaboration. Compulsory education was expanded to age 16 (LODE and logs). In public works, the most salient findings include the network of motorways and expressways, and the improvement of infrastructure in Barcelona and Seville for the 1992 events (Olympics and World Expo).
Counterterrorism policy could not end the criminal activity of ETA, which reduced its attacks but made them more deadly through car-bomb explosions, such as the Hipercor stores in Barcelona, which resulted in 21 deaths (1987). France worked with the Spanish authorities in the fight against ETA, while the Ajuria Enea pacts, signed by all political forces, managed to isolate the violent group.
Simultaneously, the GAL (Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups) murdered people linked to ETA. In politics, Spain negotiated its entry into the EEC (1986) and its final incorporation into NATO. The socialist administration reached its peak in the celebrations of 1992, in which the new democratic Spain achieved international recognition. However, the country suffered a serious crisis: jobs were lost, Spain did not meet the economic criteria of economic convergence with respect to Europe, and the first corruption scandals emerged (files, Bank of Spain, Banesto, the reserved funds). The GAL case revealed that the Home Office had been involved, and CESID papers demonstrated that politicians, journalists, and even the king himself had been subjected to illegal wiretapping.
In the 1993 elections, the Socialists won again, although with a relative majority. They sought pacts with moderate nationalists (PNV and CiU) in exchange for concessions on the autonomous decentralization process. In this environment, the Popular Party, born of the renewal of Alianza Popular (a right-wing group led by Fraga Iribarne) and a new president in the person of José María Aznar, progressively gained control of plots of power for over a decade, taking over from the Socialists in the European elections, municipalities, autonomous regions, etc.
The Government of the People’s Party (1996-2004).
In 1996, elections were held, where the PP defeated the PSOE by just 300,000 votes. José María Aznar, supported by the PNV and CiU, was vested as president of the government. His administration began with the granting of 30% of the income tax to the autonomous communities and an extensive program of privatization in public companies (CAMPSA, phone, email, etc.). The priority was to meet the Maastricht conditions: control the public deficit and inflation. Since 1996, an economic recovery began, unemployment figures improved significantly, political scandals of the previous era disappeared, and the return to power of the intransigent right largely vanished.
The Popular Party moderated its image and presented itself to the Spanish people as a center-right party based on neoliberal ideas. The fruits of this strategy were not long in coming, and among other achievements, Spain’s integration into the euro zone single currency was achieved, with the currency put into circulation in January 2002. All these elements led the People’s Party to achieve a comfortable majority in the 2000 elections.
However, the period from 2000 to 2004 was not as fruitful, especially due to the implementation of a series of unpopular measures that produced considerable wear and tear on the government. In fact, the strong support for U.S. counterterrorism policy promoted by Aznar and Spain’s entry into the war in Iraq under the pretext of dealing with the Islamic threat of Saddam Hussein, led to a reaction from the leftist parties, who organized smear campaigns against the government, with the media related to them defending their position. However, the Spanish economic numbers were the best in democracy, in an unprecedented stage even acknowledged by other member countries of the European Union.
Strategies against ETA intensified: the Anti-Terrorist Pact was signed with the PSOE, which was achieved thanks to outlawing pro-ETA groups, security forces allied with France, stifling political leaders of Herri Batasuna, and judges applying remedies for prisoners.
But on March 11, 2004, a major terrorist attack occurred. Near Madrid’s Atocha station, several bombs exploded on several trains, resulting in more than 200 deaths and 1000 injuries. The tension and nervousness staged by the government in the following hours prior to the elections scheduled for two days later, led to a loss of credibility.
The Government of the Socialist Party (2004-2008).
The March 2004 elections resulted in a victory for the Socialist Party, led by a new leader, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who was supported by IU, the moderate nationalists (PNV, CiU, CC), and other more radical groups (ERC). The Socialists benefited from a creative and original advertising campaign around the slogan ‘ZP = President Zapatero’, while capitalizing on opinions contrary to the Iraq War and the terrorist attack in Madrid. They also benefited from the discrediting of Aznar’s Ministers in the eyes of the general public. The Zapatero government launched an ambitious program of social reforms (legalization of gay marriage, abortion, gender parity in all areas), regional reforms (statutory reforms of Catalonia, Valencia, and Andalusia), and educational reforms (LOE), while maintaining continuity with the previous stage in the economy. Contacts with ETA endangered the political consensus among the majority groups, leading to the breaking of the Anti-Terrorist Pact and forced interpretations of the Parties Law (release of ETA member Juana Chaos and political participation of left-wing nationalism in the 2007 municipal elections with the party ANV).
In March 2008, elections were held, with a new victory for the PSOE (42.87%). Nearly 40 lists from ANV were not involved, and Izquierda Unida lost strength (only 2 deputies). The period was characterized by measures taken in response to the important economic and financial crisis in the international context.
nternational context.