Spain’s Political Evolution: 1979 to 2008
The Implementation of the Constitution
Once approved, the Constitution and its precepts were put into practice. This was as crucial as the very enactment of the constitutional text: they had to consolidate the newly established democracy.
Following the adoption of the Constitution, the Parliament was dissolved, as required, and new elections were called. These elections gave a new victory for the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), but again without an absolute majority. The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) maintained its results in terms of social support compared to previous elections. The People’s Alliance (AP) and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) were down significantly. The biggest news was the increase in the national vote for formations of this sign that appeared in different territories of Catalonia and the Basque Country: the regionalist or nationalist claim began to flourish.
The First Municipal Elections
The first municipal elections were also held in 1979, just months after the general election. The effective result of the election changed completely because of the pact between the PSOE and PCE. Another big news was the autonomous communities staged under the Constitution. The first to approve their statutes of autonomy were the Basque Country and Catalonia, with referendums in October 1979.
The Socialist Victory of 1982
The Socialist victory in October 1982, the most complete in the history of Spanish democracy, demonstrated the extent to which the Socialist Party of Felipe Gonzalez was able to capitalize on the hopes for change that housed in Spanish society. The Socialists, with ten million votes, nearly doubled their number of voters in 1979 and won a huge parliamentary majority that allowed them to rule comfortably alone. Some of the major achievements during this period were:
- Industrial restructuring in the first half of the eighties
- Spain joined the European Communities in 1986
- Boosting the welfare state
- Modernization of infrastructure
- Increasing the Spanish presence abroad
The Rise of the Conservative Party
The relay in the government was made possible by the remaking of the Conservative Party in 1989. That year, after finding the failure to increase the number of votes, Manuel Fraga left the direction of People’s Alliance and chose José María Aznar to direct it. In the regional and municipal elections of 1994, the renewed formation managed to win ten of the thirteen communities that held elections, and 43 of the 50 provincial capitals.
The 1996 General Elections
In the March 1996 general elections, the People’s Party (PP) was able to obtain almost 39% of the vote compared to just over 37% of the PSOE. It was enough to govern with the support of the Convergence and Union (CiU), Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), and Canarian Coalition (CC), all nationalist parties.
Economic Growth Under Aznar
The main achievements of these governments include meeting the convergence criteria that allowed Spain’s participation in the monetary union. The convergence criteria required the reduction of debt and deficits, lower inflation, and falling interest rates.
Coinciding with a period of international economic expansion during the government of Aznar, Spain entered a period of unprecedented economic growth. For the first time in the democratic era, they were getting healthy public accounts.
Aznar’s Second Term and the Rise of Zapatero
In large measure, this is the reason why in the 2000 elections, the PP won a reduced-term absolute majority. In Aznar’s second term, new problems arose. After the brutal attacks of 11M, general elections were held on the 14th, as scheduled, in which citizens gave victory to the Socialist Party.
The victory of the PSOE, although without an absolute majority, allowed José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to form a government with the support of other political forces, except the PP.
In the 2008 elections, despite the improvement of the election results on the right, Zapatero revalidated a sufficient majority to govern.