Spanish transition to Democracy: Introduction and context

In Madrid's Plaza de Oriente (Orient Square) a massive rally on the first anniversary of General Franco's death for Spain. The year since his passing has been one of hope and uncertainty. The country's new rulers have moved cautiously towards a more liberal regime but in dismantling the old edifice they've had to steer a hazardous course between left-wing radicals demanding rapid change and right-wing Franco ests who want virtually none. This rally was in fact a reminder to the government that the dictators philosophy lives on. It was staged by the Confederation of Civil War veterans, a right-wing organization steadfastly loyal to Franco and the political system he imposed on Spain. Pamphlets were handed out beforehand urging Spaniards not to agree to the destruction of their fatherland. Now the crowd of 70,000 was soon in full voice making their ritual response to the invocation of their dead leader, the Falange battle him face to the Sun. After the rally some of the more extreme demonstrators marched on Parliament calling its members traitors for passing a government bill which abolished the legal framework of Franco's one-party state. The bill is the most important single reform since Franco died; it's been pushed through Parliament by the 44 year-old Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez, who took office last July. Suarez is a former leader of the national movement, the only political party Franco allowed. So he was well placed to persuade many hardline franco supporters to accept the reform. The bill clears the way for parliamentary democracy in Spain: next year there will be multi-party elections for a new two chamber Parliament that will be democratic. But first the Suarez plan has to be approved by a referendum on December 15th. The past year has already seen many changes in Spain, some more obvious than others. Book stalls, for example, now stark a greater choice of reading matter than ever before: girlie magazines have made their appearance for the first time. On the Franco they were banned as an intolerable affront to public morality. More seriously the relaxation of censorship has meant the appearance of publications that openly attack the government. The new regime still has the power to censor and has used it in the past year but the trend towards unrestricted debate a steadily grown stronger. In May a new independent newspaper began production. It's called El Pais (the nation) and from its first edition it's reporting set new standards of candor over the Spanish press. El Pais' first editorial argued that a new prime minister was needed to speed
up plans for democratic reform. Since then the papers gone from strength to strength and with a circulation of a hundred thousand it's now the fifth largest daily in the country. Another sign of the changing times was the staging in Madrid in September of Rafael Alberti's political play "El Adefesio". The author, a communist who lives in exile in Rome, wrote the work during the last war; it's had to wait over 30 years for its Spanish premiere. This tide of
liberalization has brought some longtime exiles home despair, men like Mata, a hero of the doomed Republican incaused in the Civil War. He and other Spaniards who spent decades abroad in protest against the old regime are now returning to take part freely in the great debate, and their supporters have turned out to welcome them nicely and with open arms. Another exile was Pedro Cristobal, a Republican veteran. He was imprisoned by Franco after the Civil War but later became a leader of the Communist dominated Comisiones Obreras (workers commissions), the illegal trade unions. It's also been a year of demonstrations in Spain as public pressure has grown for the government to demonstrate its genuine Democratic intentions. These demands bore fruit at the end of July. After months of negotiations with Franco's die-hard loyalists, King Juan Carlos announced an amnesty for many of Spain's political prisoners. It didn't cover those convicted of crimes of violence but many people in prison so near for their political beliefs have since been released. Presiding over this bewildering and difficult Transition is King Juan Carlos himself. Ironically the man Franco trained to preserve regime has been genuinely concerned to destroy it. From the beginning the King recognized the need for change. His problem was to move the country towards democracy fast enough to satisfy the opposition on the government's left yet without provoking a backlash from the conservative right that might end in a military "coup d'etat". The most reactionary elements in Spain, the so-called bunker, still control the Army and the police, and it says something for Juan Carlos's skill but he's managed to retain solid army support even though some of his measures tested the patience and tolerance of a few ultra right-wing officers. The views of these arch-conservative leaders are shared by a considerable number of Spaniards in the older age groups. Falange's meetings are usually well attended; the message that goes out from them is that Spain will lay itself open to chaos and eventually communism if Franco's policies are abandoned and so bring down on itself all the horrors the Civil War was fought to avoid. Facing the Falangists and the government, on the other side of the political spectrum are moderates, liberals, radical, socialists and communists, several separate parties on the one opposition umbrella for Democratic coordination. The largest single opposition group is the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (the PSOE). They claim the changes so far are not enough, they want complete freedom of speech and assembly, the release of remaining political prisoners, the legalization of the Communist Party and the abolition of what they call the repressive machinery of dictatorship. They're thinking of boycotting the referendum and if their demands are not met, next year's elections as well. On both economic and political fronts, the government's also run into trouble from organized labor, with a series of strikes throughout the country staged by the unofficial trade unions, Comisiones Obreras. At various times, Spain's industry transport docks and postal services have been brought to a standstill. The political overtones were most apparent in the action of Madrid's 8,000 bussmann, who walked off the job in October and stayed out for a week in a display of defiance that had the police breaking up their meetings and arresting their leaders. The main issue was who should represent them: the state-run unions set up by Franco (USO) or the illegal but more popular comisiones Obreras. The workers eventually had to accept the official line but among government plans for reform our provisions for legal independent trade unions. The most difficult problem the government faces, and one it's so far refused to compromise on, is the separatist issue especially here and the Basque provinces of the north. The demands of these people for a bigger say in their own affairs range from full independence to milder claims for some kind of regional autonomy within the Spanish state. The issuer's accounted for most of the violence in the past year in which 40 people have been killed in the name of political freedom or repression. Alternatives to Basque terrorists do exist: this is one, the Basque Socialist Party, which held its first open meeting near San Sebastian in November even though it's still technically illegal. There are more moderate groups like this. But the government may have to deal with to achieve the isolation of vast terror organizations like ETA. Not surprisingly King Juan Carlos hasyet to tour the Basque provinces. There he has been to that other separatist stronghold Barcelona, where many Catalans feel strongly that their identity should be expressed in their own Parliament. Juan Carlos has also visited the south, where he received his warmest welcomes. A year ago he was hesitant, even diffident. Now his authority is far less frequently questioned by politicians and public alike. When the king came to the throne last year, cynics in Madrid dubbed him Juan Carlos "the brief". He's done far better than his critics forecast and in the next year he could succeed in directing Spain towards a more open and tolerant society.