Franco’s Spain: Transformation and Crisis (1959-1975)
Franco’s Dictatorship: Social, Political, and Economic Aspects
The Franco dictatorship was characterized by economic development, social modernization, and political immobility.
Economic Development
In 1959, the entry of technocrats into the government changed the economic model through two plans:
- The 1959 Stabilization Plan: Objectives included cutting public spending and liberalizing imports and foreign investment.
- Development Plans: Three plans between 1964 and 1975 sought to improve corporate structure and reduce regional imbalances by creating development hubs in less industrialized regions.
This resulted in rapid industrial growth, agricultural modernization, and increased services, especially tourism. Helped by the European and global economic boom, the balance of payments became positive thanks to tourism, foreign investment, and remittances from emigrants. Both GDP and income increased, but this development also had weaknesses. In the Canary Islands, a shift occurred from an agrarian to a tertiary economy. The REF (Economic and Fiscal Regime), established in 1972, updated the free ports and provided the islands with their own finances.
Social Modernization
The rapid leap from an agricultural to an industrial economy, along with the opening to the outside world, generated demographic, social, and mental changes that undermined the dictatorship’s goal of maintaining a submissive society.
Two significant demographic changes:
- Strong Population Growth: A delayed post-war baby boom occurred in the 1960s, lasting until the mid-1970s.
- Rural Exodus: Migration from rural agricultural areas to industrial and tourist centers. In the Canary Islands, a significant portion of this migration was destined for Western Europe. Out-migration reduced unemployment and brought in foreign currency through remittances. However, it also increased regional imbalances and led to rapid, poorly planned urban growth.
Four key social and mental changes:
- Changes in Workforce Structure: Reduction of the primary sector and increase in the secondary and tertiary sectors. Incorporation of women into the workforce and changes in social roles.
- Increased Living Standards: Joining the consumer society and secularization. Lifestyles became similar to those in Europe, bringing a new mentality. Income per capita increased sixfold.
- Changes in the Welfare State: Access to university education for the middle classes became an important focus of opposition to the regime, parallel to the workers’ opposition.
Political Paralysis
Between 1959 and 1967, the regime attempted to modernize. Technocrats, supported by Franco’s right-hand man, Carrero Blanco, and young Falangists, drove four types of reforms:
- Public Policy: Political repression shifted from military courts-martial to civil courts.
- Elections in Vertical Trade Unions: Press Law, Law of Military Representation, Law of Religious Freedom, and Social Security Law were enacted.
- Organic Law of the State: Aimed to secure the future of the monarchy regime, separating the positions of Head of State and Chairman of the Government.
- Law of Succession: Ensured the succession of Franco and, presumably, the continuation of the Franco regime.
In foreign policy, the attempt to join the EEC was notable.
Between 1969 and 1973, modernization slowed due to the rise of opposition, increased fighting between reformist and hardline sectors, and the regime’s immobility. The hardliners, later known as the “bunker,” slowed reforms and tightened repression. In 1970, the Council of Burgos War against ETA members resulted in six death sentences.
The year 1973 was crucial: Process 1001, the global economic crisis, and the separation between the Head of State and the Prime Minister. In December, Carrero Blanco was killed in an ETA attack, pushing the regime into its final crisis.
The opposition was characterized by growing social unrest and greater conflict. Within the labor movement, Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.) gained momentum. Catholic unions like HOAC and USO also emerged. In the Canary Islands, the most combative trade unionism was that of the longshoremen of Las Palmas. Other opposition pockets included the university, parts of the Catholic Church, neighborhood movements, the judiciary, and even a minority within the army (the Military Union Democracy).
Social opposition urged the renewal of the political opposition. Democratic forces were initially disunited: a) the center-right, pro-reform; b) the left, supporting a break, including the PCE and PSOE; c) in Catalonia, a center party, Convergence, was created; in the Basque Country, ETA and PNV emerged; and in the Canary Islands, the independence movement Canarias Libre was born, later followed by MPAIAC.
The Crisis of the Dictatorship
The final crisis of the dictatorship began with the assassination of Carrero Blanco. This political crisis was compounded by Franco’s deteriorating health, increased conflict and terrorist activities, and a global economic crisis.
Under the Franco regime, the confrontation between the “bunker” and the aperturistas (supporters of progressive democratization) intensified. The new prime minister, Arias Navarro, opted for a compromise between the two sectors, the “spirit of February 12th,” proposing an opening based on: a new municipal law, trade union reform, reform of the courts, and a new law on political associations. After several setbacks, Arias Navarro abandoned the reforms and sought the support of the hardliners.
The global economic crisis of 1973 undermined the foundations of earlier development.
Amid growing worker and student protests, the political opposition began to unify. The Catalan opposition was the first to unite, creating the Democratic Board in 1974 and the Democratic Convergence Platform in 1975. Both called for a provisional government to pave the way for democracy. They linked their efforts to Franco’s death, ultimately supporting the Platajunta’s reform track.
Violence also increased. The government intensified law enforcement, first with the execution of anarchist Puig Antich, followed by the creation of an anti-terrorism law and the execution of five members of ETA and FRAP.
All these problems were compounded by the conflict in the Sahara, where Spain had delayed decolonization. Nationalist sentiment grew, as did the territorial desires of neighboring countries. While the UN debated the future of the Sahara, exacerbating the delicate situation in Spanish Sahara, the Moroccan King Hassan II organized a peaceful invasion of the territory, the so-called Green March. Agreements were signed in Madrid, by which Spain ceded Western Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania, giving rise to a conflict that remains unresolved.