The Democratic Spain: From Transition to Consolidation (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 that the government accepts the independence of Euskadi, completing its action through a political party, Herri Batasuna, backed by over 15% of the votes in the electoral contests. ETA terrorism was joined by other groups like the Popular Front and GRAPO. The aim of these groups was to break the credibility of the fledgling democracy and provoke a reaction from the military and the state security bodies, those who they directed their attacks against.
Following the adoption of the Constitution and legislative elections, Suarez returned to his performance in promoting the reform, getting a new electoral victory. However, soon after came the triumph of the left in local elections, following the pact between the PSOE and the PCE.
The Suarez government was subjected to heavy wear and tear, plus the autonomous decentralization process which is included in the Constitution in Articles 143 and 151. The differences between government and opposition were accentuated. The PSOE began a harsh critique that culminated with the presentation of a motion of censure against Suarez, but it did not thrive. Suarez also faced the gradual disintegration of his own party that 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 insults received by the Kings in his visit to Guernica by pro-ETA groups, made a military coup seem possible to different sectors, citing the “necessity” that lies in Spain. Thus, on 23 February, during the investiture debate of the new Prime Minister, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, a group of Civil Guards under the command of Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero entered Congress and kidnapped the Members of Parliament. Meanwhile, in Valencia, troops led by Gen. Jaime Milans del Bosch went out into the street and took the city. In the barracks all over Spain, they lived tense moments until the King’s televised address calling for the observance of constitutional order, just to convince the undecided about the very low probability of a successful coup.
The failure resulted in the revitalization of democracy: popular mass demonstrations and political renewal of the spirit of consensus.
In 1979, a negative phase of the Spanish economy began: rising prices, low GDP growth, the deficit balance of payments, rising unemployment, and so on, which bound the self-disintegration of the UCD. In this situation, Calvo Sotelo called for early elections in August 1982, giving the victory to the Socialists with an absolute majority. This normal alternation allows us to consider this date as the end of the transition and the beginning of the consolidation of democracy.
The Government of the Socialist Party (1982-1996)
The Socialists got through a number of factors such as party unity, the popularity of its leader, Felipe González, a progressive and innovative electoral program that includes the promise to create 800,000 jobs, the ideological renovation of its leaders, who accept the monarchy as a form of state, the decomposition of the CDU, or the failure obtained by the Communists that bind to other related groups in a coalition called the United Left.
The Socialists undertook a series of economic and political reforms that sought to overcome the economic crisis, the incorporation of the country into the European context, and the consolidation of democracy. In economic policy, they applied a hard reset, forgetting campaign promises on jobs, taking remedial measures to control inflation and public spending, undertaking the redevelopment of large public companies, closing industries, and retiring many workers early despite the violent disturbances that they starred in, among other issues. Moreover, they extended public expenditure for the creation of state services. They also applied programs to promote employment while unemployment continued to grow.
Since 1986, the economy was reactivated, there was incorporation into the European Economic Community, and the reduction of trade barriers to attract foreign investment was allowed. Trade unions (CCOO and UGT) accepted wage restraint and contained labor unrest in exchange for greater investment in public spending. As this was not done, in 1988 the trade unions organized a massive general strike, leaving the country literally paralyzed. It was the social response to government measures relating to employment and economic adjustments.
The interest in creating the welfare state made the government pay special attention to pensions, health, and education. It expanded health coverage to all citizens, multiplying the charges and imposed a streamlining of its administration. Pensions were universalized, it raised their level, and unemployment benefits were encoded. In Andalusia and Extremadura, they were of particular importance for the implementation of the PER (Plan Empleo Rural).
Likewise, they tried to agree on issues such as education reform with the intention of improving the university degrees in teaching and organizing public and private collaboration, expanding compulsory education to age 16 (LODE and LOGSE). In public works, the most salient findings include the network of motorways and expressways, and the improvement of infrastructure in Barcelona and Seville for 1992 events (Olympics and World Expo).
Counterterrorism policy could not end the criminal activity of ETA, which reduced their attacks but made them more deadly through car-bomb explosions such as the Hipercor store in Barcelona with 21 dead (1987). France was working 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.
Acting simultaneously were the GAL (Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups) who murdered people linked to ETA. In political matters, the entry into the EEC (1986) and the final incorporation into NATO were negotiated. The socialist administration reached its fullness in the celebrations of 1992, in which the new democratic Spain achieved international recognition. However, the country suffered a serious crisis: jobs were lost, it did not meet the economic criteria of economic convergence with respect to Europe, there were the first corruption scandals (Filesa, Bank of Spain, Banesto, the reserved funds), the GAL case showed that the government had been involved, and CESID papers came to light demonstrating 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. Hence they sought pacts with moderate nationalists (PNV and CiU) in exchange for concessions on the autonomic decentralization process. In this environment, the Popular Party, born of the renewal of Alianza Popular (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 held for over a decade by the Socialists: the European elections, municipalities, autonomous communities…
The Government of the People’s Party (1996-2004)
In 1996, there were elections where the PP beat the PSOE by just 300,000 votes. José María Aznar, supported by the PNV and CiU, was invested president of the government. Management began with the granting of 30% of the income tax to the autonomous communities and an extensive program of privatization in public companies (CAMPSA, telephone, mail, 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 threats to return to power from 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 were not long in coming and, among other achievements, they got Spain’s integration into the euro zone, with the single currency put into circulation in January 2002. All these elements made the People’s Party achieve a comfortable majority in the 2000 elections.
However, the period 2000-2004 would not be 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 the US counterterrorism policy promoted by George W. Bush and the entry into the war in Iraq under the pretext of dealing with the Islamic threat of Saddam Hussein, represented the reaction of the leftist parties, who organized smear campaigns against the government, in defense of the media related to them. However, the Spanish economic numbers were the best in democracy, in an unprecedented stage even acknowledged by the other member countries of the European Union.
Strategies against ETA intensified: the Anti-Terrorist Pact signed with the PSOE, thanks to which pro-ETA groups were outlawed, security forces, allied with France, stifled political leaders of Herri Batasuna, and judges applied remedies for prisoners.
But on March 11, 2004, a major terrorist attack took place. Near Madrid’s Atocha station, several bombs exploded on several trains, killing more than 200 people and injuring 1,000. The tension and nervousness displayed by the government in the following hours prior to the elections scheduled for two days later, made them lose all credibility.
The Government of the Socialist Party (2004-2008)
The March 2004 elections gave victory to the Socialist Party, at the hands of a new leader, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, building on IU, the moderate nationalists (PNV, CiU, CC), and other more radical ones (ERC). The Socialists got a return on 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, asserting in his favor the discredit of the Aznar Ministers to the general public. The Zapatero government started an ambitious program of social reforms (legalization of gay marriage, abortion, gender parity in all areas), regional (statutory reforms of Catalonia, Valencia, and Andalusia), and educational (LOE), while in the economy it maintained continuity with the previous stage. The contacts with ETA endangered the political consensus among the majority groups, breaking the Anti-Terrorist Pact and forcing interpretations of the Parties Law (release of ETA member De Juana Chaos and political participation of left-wing nationalism in the 2007 municipal elections with the ANV party).
In March 2008, elections were held, with a new victory for the PSOE (42.87%). Almost 40 lists from ANV were not involved, and Izquierda Unida lost strength (only 2 deputies). The period was characterized by measures related to the important economic and financial crisis in the international context.