Session 13 Transition

SESSION 13 Transition SPANISH CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE CEA BARCELONA GLOBAL CAMPUS SUMMER 2007 PROGRAMME Instructor: Victor Lapuente Gine e-mail: [email protected]

Session 13. Transition. OUTLINE OF THE SESSION •

The crisis of Francoism

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What to do after Franco’s death?

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The PSOE years

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ETA

Session 13. Transition. •

The crisis of Francoism

-Socio-economic changes from 1939-1975 In 1939 Spain had 52% of its active population working in the agriculture. Actually, between 1935-1940 the active rural population INCREASED by 700.000 (the same number that the industry lost) By the end of the 1950s, self sufficiency was abandoned Free maket and private enterprise was facilitated

Session 13. Transition Between 1960 and 1973, over 250,000 Spaniards (8% of the active population) emigrated to Europe The most striking change was the growth of urban classes and the decline of rural life. Between 1951 and 1970, some 3 million people left rural areas to work and live abroad or in the industrial centres of Spain During the 1960s and 1970s rise of social protests against the dictatorships, especially among university and workers’ groups

Session 13. Transition The transformation of the spanish society had a paradoxical effect on the regime: On the one hand, it was able to strengthen its claim to legitimacy on the grounds that Spain was experincing unprecedented economic growth and a rise in living standards. On the other hand, the demands and contradictions generated by this transformation were incresingly difficult to contain within the structures of the dictatorship.

Session 13. Transition. 2) What to do after Franco’s death? In 1975 Spain was under Franco´s authoritarian regime In the 1980s, Spain had a democratic regime with some characteristics of stability: -there was a constitutional and politically responsible government -military coups seemed increasingly unlikely -several elections had taken place the protection of human and political rights was guaranteed -a competitive party system existed

Why was that possible?

Session 13. Transition. • Franco died November 20th, 1975 • The transition from autocracy to democracy in Spain was the product of a series of pacts and negotiations among different political actors, from almost all the ideological spectrum • The transition was neither a radical break with the authoritarian regime nor a process of selftransformation by the regime itself.

One of the few politicians who attended Franco’s funeral…

Session 13. Transition. • The Transition was an ‘agreed break’ in which there was a lack of continuity between the mechanisms of selection of the rulers (from authoritarian to free elections), but in which there was a legal continuity through which the change was put into practice • The Transition was a dismantling of the regime from above, especially by the 1976 Law of Political Reform enacted according to Franco legislation, which opened the way to free elections

Session 13. Transition. -Paradoxically, the relative success of development policies during the last decades of Francoism created problems for the continuity of the authoritarian regime once its creator had died: 1) there was an increase of the internal unbalances within the Francoist core constituencies. 2) many priests had adopted a critical view on the dictatorship and, finally, the Catholic Church ended up distancing itself from the regime. 3) the economic development led working-class movements to grow more organized.

Session 13. Transition. - The survival of the regime after Franco had been connected to Admiral Carrero Blanco - Franco thought that he would leave Spain “tied-up and well tied-up” - His testament established a regime which would have concentrated all authority in the hands of a single individual –King Juan Carlos.

Session 13. Transition. -But the political pillars of the regime were crumbling: 1) Surveys showed an increasing support for democracy and indicated that the backing for Francoist institutions was virtually nonexistent. 2) Many businessmen had concluded that a continuity of the regime would be an impediment to Spanish integration into the European Common Market. The economic elite started to exert some pressure in favour of a step-bystep democratic change. They considered that a serious political crisis, with catastrophic consequences for them, could be the effect of a strong incumbents´ resistance to change the regime. As a result, informal pressure groups launched proposals for democratic reform based on legal continuity

Session 13. Transition. -The transition to democracy might be divided up into three stages. -The first phase: November 1975 to July 1976 Juan Carlos kept the last Franco´s Prime Minister –Arias Navarro- in power. Arias government tried to impose a ‘limited democracy’ The opposition forces, as a response, put into practice a strategy of ‘pressure from below’

Session 13. Transition. -The second phase: July 1976-June 1977 Juan Carlos appointed Adolfo Suarez, a non-relevant political figure so far, as Prime Minister From the beginning, Suarez government moved to dismantle the Francoist regime

Session 13. Transition. Suarez’s strategy was directed toward negotiating with Francoist core constituencies: •

Suarez obtained the support of the economic elite while guaranteeing them the continuity of the capitalist system.

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Suarez acquired the backing of the Army and civil servants by assuring that the structures of the Army and public administration would remain untouched.

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Suarez gained the agreement of the representatives who sat in the Francoist Cortes by offering them an electoral system designed to maximize the possibilities of the electoral success of the conservative forces.

As a result of these negotiations, a Law of Political Reform which included the celebration of general elections was approved by the Francoist Cortes and by the Spanish population throughout a referendum

Session 13. Transition. After the referendum, Suarez agreed to some of the opposition’s demands for the first free elections since the 1930s. One of the most important was the extension of the legalization of parties to the Communist PCE. In exchange, the opposition was compelled to make some concessions, like renouncing any policy of prosecutions of those officials involved in dictatorship’s repressive policies The successful outcome of the referendum on the Law of Political Reform had strengthened Suarez who put together a coalition of moderate parties creating the Union of Democratic Centre (UCD).

Session 13. Transition. -The third phase of the transition: June 1977First democratic elections in Spain 40 years on 15 June 1977 Suarez’s UCD gained the elections These Cortes elaborated the 1978 Constitution, which would be ratified by Spanish citizens through a referendum in 1978

3. The PSOE years • Elections were called for October 1982, and the Socialist Party, lead by Felipe González, was given an overwhelming mandate. • Ten million Spaniards voted to let the onceillegal Socialist party lead them into the 1980's and 90's. • At the time of the election, he was 40 years old, represented the NEW Spain: he was modern, youthful, charismatic, and intelligent.

The bright side - La movida • Spain was suddenly perceived as modern, with it, exciting, expensive, chic, and exotic. • "La movida"— was a complex array of cultural and social ferment stimulated by, among others, the film director Pedro Almodóvar, began to capture the attention of the world press, the jet set, and the culture mavens. • Money flowed freely, clothes were shed, and all rules seemingly suspended in an orgy of creativity and excitement as Spain liberated itself from its repressive past.

The dark side - Political Disillusion • Even as the 1980's crescendo of prosperity and spending kept up, many Spaniards were already becoming disillusioned with what they perceived to be: – the growing indifference of their political leaders – rising incidence of corruption at high levels – and an increasing threat to their daily security.

Positive Side • Felipe still could rightfully claim great strides in the improvement of the standard of living for most Spaniards. • Spain was Western Europe's fastest growing economy. • Industries had been modernized and the steel and shipbuilding sectors, which had fallen onto hard times a decade earlier, were once again prospering.

Positive Side • People seemed to live well, to spend money freely, to enjoy themselves with abandon. • One-month summer vacations were not only possible, they were an absolute and immutable right of workers. • Working hours shortened as mattress lengths lengthened (proving the real benefits of improved nutrition), corporate and banking profits tripled and quadrupled. • Tourism set new records.

1992 • Ironically, exactly 500 years after Columbus: • Olympic Games (Barcelona) • the International World's Fair (Seville) • the Cultural Capital of Europe (Madrid). • Whereas in 1982 only 23 percent of Spaniards defined themselves as belonging to the middle class, by 1992 more than 52 percent did so.

Modernity • As William Finnegan wrote in The New Yorker in 1992, "for all the medieval images that still cling to the country, "the real Spain" is a thoroughly modern land, increasingly sexy and shockproof and rich."

Summary of PSOE years • Spain has undergone monumental changes in the past 20 years. • It must be kept in mind that in one generation Spain went from a predominantly rural to a predominantly urban society, from a predominantly agricultural to a predominantly industrial/service society (50 years ago Spain was 70 percent agricultural; now it is only 6 percent agricultural); • Spain has moved, in one generation, from the 19th century to the 20th century.

Summary of PSOE years • 1975 to 1995 have been the most important years in Spanish history in the past several centuries. • This has been the longest democratic period Spain has ever witnessed. • The changes have been dramatic and lasting, and Spain can never return to its agricultural, rural, 19th-century roots.

5. ETA What is ETA? • Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) = "Basque Homeland and Freedom"; • ETA is a Terrorist Group or a Basque Nationalist Paramilitary • Founded in 1959 as a group advocating traditional cultural ways • Soon afterwards it became an armed group fighting for Basque independence.

• ETA's goals: sovereignty and self-determination for the Basque Country. Also, but less important, it aims at building a socialist regime in the Basque country • Motto: Bietan jarrai ("Keep up on both"). This refers to the two figures in the ETA symbol, a snake (representing politics) wrapped around an axe (representing armed fight) • ETA is listed as a Terrorist Organization by the United Nations and the European Union • Since 2003, the State Department lists ETA as a foreign terrorist organization. Why so late?

• ETA has committed almost 900 killings and dozens of kidnappings • Main targets: – National and regional officials and government buildings in Spain – Many regional officials and institutions in Basque regions, and in later years ETA has targeted journalists and civilians.

• More than 500 ETA militants are held in prison in Spain and France.

History of ETA -In 1959, young activists came together to form ETA -Reasons: the dictator Franco’s suppression of the Basque language and culture frustration with moderate Basque nationalist organizations -The group soon embraced a revolutionary Marxist ideology -Soon, they planted bombs in several cities in Spain

-1965: The Revolutionary Tax starts -1968: June: first killing of ETA (a Guardia Civil) August: assassination of police inspector Meliton Manzanas -1969: police operations almost ended with ETA (movie: Lobo…) -1973: ETA operatives killed the aging dictator Francisco Franco’s apparent successor, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco (by planting an underground bomb below his habitual parking spot outside a Madrid church)

-1974. Radicalization: 12 civilians die in a terrorist attack cafetería Rolando (Madrid) -During the transition to ETA refused offers of amnesty, instead continuing and intensifying its violent struggle -The years 1978–80 were to prove ETA's most deadly, with 68, 76, and 91 fatalities -1985: first car bomb assassination in Madrid -1987: The Hipercor bombing. An attack in a shopping center in Barcelona, killing 21 and injuring 45

-The “Dirty War” 1983-1987: “dirty war” against ETA by the GAL (Antiterrorist Liberation Groups"), a government-sponsored and supposedly counter-terrorist organization GAL committed assassinations, kidnappings and torture, not only of ETA members but of civilians supposedly related to those, some of whom turned out to have absolutely nothing to do with ETA. In 1997 a Spanish court convicted and imprisoned several individuals involved in GAL, not only mercenaries and lowlevel police officials but politicians up to the highest levels of the PSOE government, including a former Homeland Minister.

Evolution of deaths. Source: El Pais 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

-1992, ETA's three top leaders — the "military" leader, the political leader and the logistical leader, often referred to collectively as the "cupula" of ETAwere arrested in the French Basque town of Bidart -It led to changes in ETA's leadership and direction. Even more radical positions: the creation of the “Y Groups”

-1995: failed ETA car bombing attempt directed against Jose Maria Aznar, the conservative politician who was leader of the PP and was shortly after elected to the presidency of the government Also abortive attempt in Majorca on the life of King Juan Carlos I -1997: ETA loses even more social support: Assassination of the PP council member Miguel Angel Blanco

• In March 2006, ETA announced a "permanent cease-fire" • In a statement delivered though the Basque media, ETA explained, "The object of this decision is to drive the democratic process." • The group also called on all Basque citizens to participate in the political process in order to construct “a peace built on justice.” • The Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero agreed to begin negotiations with ETA despite the group's continued refusal to disarm.

• Spain's conservative opposition party, the Popular Party, withdrew its support for the peace talks • Demonstrators gathered in Madrid in June 2006 to protest the negotiations • 30 December 2006: a car bomb levelled a parking garage at Madrid’s international airport, killing two men • In response, Zapatero pledged to suspend dialogue with ETA, leaving the cease-fire in limbo.

3) Debate: The Peace Process and Barajas’ terrorist attack The Economist article: “Talking peace” -Read the article in 5 min -Half the class: reasons in favor of Zapatero -The other half: reasons in favor of Rajoy