Spain’s Transition to Democracy: 1982-2004
Spain’s Democratic Transition: 1982-2004
From 1982, Spain began a period of democratic normalcy in which two parties alternated in government: the PSOE (1982-1996) and the PP (1996-2004).
The Governments of the UCD
Once the constitution was approved, Parliament was dissolved, and elections were called for March 1979. The UCD, presided over by Adolfo Suárez, won again. The UCD gained 168 deputies, the PSOE 121, and the PCE 23 seats. The largest party on the right, Democratic Coalition, won only 10 MPs. Turnout was ten points lower than previously, although the voting age had been lowered from 21 to 18. To explain this reversal, the term “electoral passivity” was coined, as the turnout was attributed to younger voters.
The new government continued the reform activity in line with the Covenants of Moncloa, and the Statute of Workers was enacted (1980). The executive was unstable, having to cope with successive changes of ministers, and Adolfo Suárez began to be challenged as party leader while other trends within UCD were reinforced. The party presented different currents: Christian-democratic, liberal, and social democratic. Democrats disagreed with the divorce law, which was supported by liberals and social democrats. They also rejected Adolfo Suárez’s decisions in foreign policy, such as assistance to the VI Assembly of Non-Aligned Countries in 1979 (where he appeared as an observer), and condemned the trip to Cuba of Fidel Castro and the reception in Madrid of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, then considered a terrorist by the U.S. and other Western countries.
Adding to the ruling party’s internal problems was the failure in the first democratic municipal elections held in April 1979, after which left-wing councils were established in large cities. A similar situation occurred in the regional elections in the Basque Country and Catalonia (March 1980), where the UCD lost half of the votes obtained in 1979.
The Fragility of Democracy
The fragility of democracy was also evidenced by the harassment of both left-wing groups (ETA, which defended the independence of the Basque Country, and GRAPO or FRAP, which were anti-capitalist and did not accept the constitution or the democratic political system) and nostalgic right-wing groups from the Franco regime. The number of terrorist attacks increased considerably with the objective of destabilizing the government.
The opposition gained strength and benefited from social and political unrest, as well as the internal crisis of the UCD. In May 1980, the executive faced a motion of censure tabled by the PSOE (which had abandoned its Marxist ideology after the second election) in Parliament, which the government won narrowly. Given the fragmentation of the UCD and the questioning of his leadership, Adolfo Suárez resigned as prime minister and party leader on January 29, 1981. As he reported to the country on television, he took this decision “to prevent democratic coexistence from being interrupted.”
The 23-F Coup Attempt
The main threat to the democratic system was essentially the survival of hostile sectors within the military, who had seen the legalization of the Communist Party, the autonomic process, terrorism, and the reform of the army as signs of severe alarm that justified their intervention. Therefore, on February 23, 1981 (known as 23-F), a coup d’état took place. While the Congress of Deputies was holding the investiture vote of Calvo Sotelo as Suárez’s successor as president of the government, a group of civil guards under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero stormed into the chamber, interrupted the vote by force, and held all the members hostage.
In parallel, Captain General Milans del Bosch revolted in Valencia and took tanks to the streets to impose a military coup that would change the course of Spanish politics. The coup was the result of a plot involving some commanders of the Civil Guard, senior military leaders, and some regressive politicians.