The Resistance to Franco’s Regime (1939–1975)

Posted on Oct 17, 2025 in History

Francisco Franco remained in power for almost 40 years, dying in 1975. This period is considered one of the longest dictatorships in modern European history.

The Opposition Policy in the First Francoism (1939–1959)

Initial Repression and Political Scattering

The substitution of the previous political system was accompanied by intense repression. Francoism sought to impose a warning on those who had opposed the uprising. Repression dismantled political parties and unions, whose members were imprisoned, executed, or exiled to France, Mexico, and the USSR.

The political opposition during these years was characterized by scattering and internal confrontation. This division was the principal defect that prevented the Spanish opposition from acting effectively.

In 1939, two organizations disputed the destination of the Republic’s wealth:

  • The Emigration Service of the Spanish Republic, directed by Juan Negrín.
  • The Relief Board of the Spanish Republic, inspired by Indalecio Prieto.

Only at the end of World War II did the Republicans reunite, calling the Cortes of 1936, led by Martínez Barrio. However, internal divisions soon arose over whether the government directed by Franco should be strictly opposed or not.

Ideological Positions of Key Groups

  • The Socialists preferred a Republic but were willing to accept a Monarchy if it reflected the popular will, envisaging collaboration with Monarchists.
  • The Communist Party (PCE) was the most isolated due to its role in the Civil War.
  • The Anarchists, along with the Communists, established armed resistance to Francoism.

Guerrilla Warfare and Monarchist Maneuvers

The international situation seemed to mean little to the political regimes inside Spain. Internally, the situation was dire; hunger and fear prevented organized resistance.

Resistance during this period included the Maquis guerrillas, organized by parties like the PCE, operating in the Pyrenees Mountains, Asturias, and Andalusia. While they killed many guards, they never posed a serious threat to the Franco regime.

The Monarchists lacked sufficient strength to overthrow the government. Don Juan, the pretender to the throne, played a strategic game: attempting to attract the non-Communist left and sectors that had supported Franco during the war.

The rapprochement with the Socialists failed, and the Monarchists chose to collaborate with the regional Francoist administration. This led to the first effective interview between Don Juan and Franco in 1948.

The labor movement provoked many strikes in 1946, although they often had purely economic motivations. Striking was considered a crime, and many people were arrested.

Emergence of New Opposition in the 1950s

Different forms of opposition emerged in the 1950s:

  • Relations between Don Juan and Franco remained strained, but a policy of collaboration was maintained.
  • The PCE was renewed in 1956, proclaiming the idea of “national reconciliation” to gain power.
  • In Catalonia and the Basque Country, opposition never ceased to be active. In Barcelona, Jordi Pujol became the leading figure of Catalanism. In the Basque Country, nationalism was settled, but the group ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) emerged, defining itself as a Basque revolutionary national liberation group.
  • New opposition groups appeared that had no connection to the Civil War generation. They began to overcome the internal and external opposition problems, leading to the establishment of the Union of Democratic Forces.
  • The principal focus of social opposition proceeded from the University in these years. A new generation demanded greater freedom, leading to street struggles by student groups who were harshly repressed by the police.
  • Union movements went underground, often forming through Catholic Associations with Communist influences.

Despite these efforts, the regime was never in real danger.

The Opposition in Second Francoism (1960–1975)

Student and Worker Mobilization

The opposition also experienced a big change at the beginning of the 1960s. Most of the population became a “majority indifferent” and disinterested in public affairs. By the late 1950s, new members of the opposition emerged who had no connection with those defeated in the Civil War.

  • The University: Students managed to liquidate the SEU (Spanish University Syndicate) and formed the Democratic University Syndicate, intensifying student activism in the form of strikes.
  • The Working World: The Law on Collective Agreements in 1958 permitted the strengthening of the industrial worker movement.

Political Articulation and the Munich Meeting

The political opposition was articulated around a limited number of organizations with militant members:

  • The Democrats led by Gil Robles and Manuel Jiménez Fernández.
  • Social Liberals like Ridruejo and Joaquín Satrústegui.
  • The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) led by Rodolfo Llopis and later Felipe González.
  • The Communist Party led by Santiago Carrillo.

The Meeting of Munich in 1962 was the most important political act of this stage. At this meeting, opposition forces agreed on political changes in Spain to request entry into the Common Market.

Regional Assemblies and the Role of the Church

  • Basque Country: ETA, established in 1959, organized large nuclei and smaller groups responsible for terrorist actions. In 1968, ETA produced its first bombing, and in 1973, assassinated Luis Carrero Blanco (Franco’s trusted aide).
  • Catalonia: The Assembly of Catalonia was born, covering almost the entire opposition. In 1974, the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia appeared, headed by Jordi Pujol.
  • Political Convergence: The political opposition began to join forces in 1974, forming the Democratic Board in Paris. A year later, the Platform for Democratic Convergence was constituted, whose leading force was the PSOE, led by Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra.
  • The Church: A sector of the Church supported the opposition to the regime, highlighted by the figure of Cardinal Vicente Enrique y Tarancón, President of the Bishops’ Conference, and the movement of the “worker priests.”
  • Internal Regime: The “aperturistas” (reformists) within the regime began to defend the necessity of reforms, though without reaching a democratic system.

The regime entered a crisis marked when Franco died on November 20, 1975.