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1. Economic growth and social transformations. The technocrats prevailed, and members of Opus Dei assumed significant posts in Franco’s 1957 cabinet.Measures proposed by these technocrats were incorporated in the Stabilization Plan of 1959: curb inflation, reduce government economic controls, bring Spanish economic policies and procedures in line with European standards. The plan laid the basis for Spain’s remarkable economic transformation in the 1960s. During that decade, Spain’s industrial production and standard of living increased dramatically.The effects were dramatic. Foreign investment entered the country, attracted by low production costs and the absence of trade union freedom. The stabilizing measures established in 1959 and the liberalization of the borders caused workers to leave the country attracted by the employment opportunities and better salaries offered by the European economic boom, and provoked the emigration of Spaniards.The commercial opening, together with the low competitiveness of the Spanish economy and the great need for capital goods and raw materials, produced a chronic deficit in the balance of trade. Rapid economic development had political and social consequences. Firstly, the Larger and better educated middle class than had ever existed in Spain, New urban working class. Furthermore, the unprecedented degree of foreign cultural influence had a marked impact on Spanish society. 2. The anti-Franco dictatorship forces. Technocrats had hoped that greater economic prosperity would eliminate hostility toward Francoism, but tension between an increasingly dynamic Spanish society and the oppressive regime that governed it resulted in growing domestic opposition throughout the 1960’s. The expanding industrial labor force became increasingly militant. Workers organized clandestine commissions and strikes and bombings were indications that Franco wouldn’t be able to maintain his repressive grip on the labor force indefinitely. Regional discontent was giving rise to escalating violent protests in the Basque region and Catalonia. Agitation was growing among students who resented the structures of Franco’s regime.The priests were also increasingly vocal in their attacks on the oppressive aspects of Francoism. The unrest of the mid-1960s didn’t seriously threaten Spain’s stability and Franco felt the regime was secure and economically booming for a slight loosening of his authoritarian control.

The Organic Law of the State 1966, provided this minimal liberalization while it solidified Franco’s political system. The Law on Religious Freedom 1967, eased restrictions on non-Catholics. In the same year, the regime modified censorship laws, 1966 Press Law. In July 1969, Franco provided his regime with a greater degree of legitimacy. The Organic Law of the State 1966, provided this minimal liberalization while it solidified Franco’s political system. The Law on Religious Freedom 1967, eased restrictions on non-Catholics. In the same year, the regime modified censorship laws, 1966 Press Law. In July 1969, Franco provided his regime with a greater degree of legitimacy and continuity by naming as his successor a legitimate heir to the throne, Prince Juan Carlos de Bourbon. 3. The crisis of late Francoism. The closing years of Franco’s regime were marked by increasing violence and unrest. The anticipation of the dictator’s demise and his increasing incapacity destabilized the country, there was ongoing conflict between those who sought to liberalize the regime in order to secure its survival and those of the bunker mentality who resisted reforms. A Freedom of expression was among the suspended constitutional rights, and Spain appeared to be returning to the repressive policies of the 1940s. This had international repercussions and threatened negotiations with the US for renewal of an agreement on US military bases. Franco lifted the state of exception in March 1969, but the government’s efforts to achieve legitimacy had been seriously undermined. The most virulent opposition to the Franco regime in the late 1960s and the early 1970s came from the revolutionary Basque nationalist group, Basque Fatherland and Freedom. This extremist group used terror tactics and assassinations to gain recognition of its demands for regional autonomy. The ETA’s most daring act was the assassination in Dec 1973 of Luis Carrero Blanco, whom Franco had appointed as his 1st prime minister. Carrero Blanco had personified the hard Francoism.A more complex problem was the fate of Gibraltar. The question of sovereignty, revived in the 1960s and endangered friendly relations between Britain and Spain. Franco was optimistic about his potential for maintaining a powerful position for Spain in North Africa.In the following decades, Spain’s position in North Africa eroded further.Spain was in a state of crisis by the time of Franco’s death in 1975, despite his legacy of peace and order achieved through authoritarian rule.