For centuries, the Iberian Peninsula was the scene of successive invasions and warfare. From the ninth century B.C. to A.D. 700, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Moors entered the peninsula from the Mediterranean. The Celts, who had considerable influence in northern Spain, and the Romans, who arrived in the second century B.C., came by the land route. The present Spanish language, religion, and laws stem from the Roman period. The Visigoths arrived in the fifth century A.D., but the last Roman strongholds along the southern coast did not fall until the seventh century. In A.D. 711, North African Moors sailed across the straits, swept into Andalusia, and, within a few years, pushed the Visigoths up the peninsula to the Cantabrian Mountains. The Reconquest--efforts to drive out the Moors--lasted for more than 700 years. The Moors were expelled from the peninsula in 1492, the year Columbus made his voyage to the New World, and by 1512 the unification of present-day Spain was complete.
In the 16th century, Spain became the most powerful nation in Europe, due to the immense wealth derived from the Americas and the power of the Hapsburg Empire. Subsequently, a series of long, costly wars and revolts, capped by the defeat by the English of the "Invincible Armada" in 1588, caused the steady decline of Spanish power in Europe. The death in 1700 of Charles II, last of the Hapsburg rulers, brought about the War of Spanish Succession and the installation of a member of the House of Bourbon as the Spanish monarch. A century later, Spain became embroiled in the Napoleonic wars, during which Napoleon's brother, Joseph, was placed on the Spanish throne (1808-14). After the long campaign of the peninsular war, known in Spain as the War of Independence, the Bourbon monarchy was restored.
In 1812, during the French occupation of Madrid, the progressive Constitution of Cadiz was drawn up, embodying principles that were disputed by liberals and conservatives for another 100 years. The 19th century saw the revolt and independence of most of the American colonies; three Carlist wars over the succession issue; the institutionalization of the military pronunciamiento as a call to insurrection in the name of protecting the national interest; the brief ousting of the monarchy and establishment of the First Republic (1873-74); economic stagnation; and, finally, the Spanish-American War (1898), in which Spain lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States.
Neutral in World War I, Spain subsequently suffered from a lack of governmental authority and experienced economic, political, and social crises. A period of dictatorial rule (1923-31) ended with the establishment of the Second Republic. It was dominated by increasing political polarization, culminating in the leftist Popular Front electoral victory in 1936. Pressures from all sides, coupled with growing and unchecked violence, led to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936.
Following the victory of his nationalist forces in 1939, Gen. Francisco Franco ruled a nation exhausted politically and economically. Spain was officially neutral during World War II but followed a pro-Axis policy. The victorious Allies isolated Spain at the beginning of the postwar period, and the country was not allowed to join the United Nations until 1955.
Spain's economy began to recover in the 1950s, but large-scale modernization and development did not occur until the 1960s.
Current Political Conditions
Upon the death of Gen. Francisco Franco in November 1975, Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, Franco's personally designated heir, assumed the titles of king and chief of state. Dissatisfied with the slow pace of post-Franco liberalization, in July 1976, the King replaced Franco's last prime minister with Adolfo Suarez. Suarez entered office promising that elections would be held within 1 year, and his government moved to enact a series of decree laws to liberalize the new regime. Suffrage was extended from family heads to all citizens over 21 (lowered to age 18 by the constitution of 1978), freedom of assembly was recognized, all nonviolent political prisoners were freed, and political parties were legalized--a process completed by the legalization of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) in April 1977. Labor unions--merely tolerated at first under the new government--eventually were legalized and granted the right to strike.
Spain's first elections to the Cortes (parliament) since 1936 were held on June 15, 1977. Prime Minister Suarez' Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), a moderate center-right coalition, won 34% of the vote and received 165 of the 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies. The Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE), a democratic socialist party, finished a strong second, polling 29%. The PCE finished third with 9%, and the Popular Alliance finished fourth with 8%. Suarez remained as prime minister of the new administration.
The new Cortes set about drafting a democratic constitution amidst a consensus among Spain's major political parties that the consolidation of Spanish democracy was the foremost political goal. After months of negotiation, the Cortes overwhelmingly approved a draft constitution. A December 1978 national referendum approved the new constitution by a vast majority.
The democratic constitution establishes Spain as a parliamentary monarchy, with the prime minister responsible to the bicameral Cortes. Human and civil rights are protected, and due process is guaranteed. The constitution establishes an independent judiciary and a constitutional court. It also provides for the creation of autonomous regions within the Spanish state. Many details of government practice were left to subsequent enabling legislation, but the constitution provides the legal and institutional basis for Spanish democracy. After the constitution entered into force at the end of 1978, Prime Minister Suarez called for new national elections. The elections of March 1979 gave Suarez' UCD a large plurality, with 35% of the vote and 168 of 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies. The PSOE again received 29% of the vote, while the PCE gained slightly and picked up almost 11%. The reorganized Conservative Coalition (CD) shrank from 8% to 5.5%. The Congress reconfirmed Suarez as prime minister.
In January 1981, Suarez resigned, and the King nominated Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo to replace him. On February 23, while the Congress of Deputies was voting on the Calvo Sotelo nomination, rebel elements among the security forces seized the Congress and tried to impose a military-backed government. The great majority of the military forces remained loyal to the King, however, and the bloodless coup attempt was over in 18 hours. On February 25, the Congress of Deputies reconvened to approve Calvo Sotelo's nomination as prime minister.
Leadership conflicts within the UCD and increasing defections from its parliamentary ranks led Calvo Sotelo to call new national elections in October 1982. The PSOE, led by Felipe Gonzalez, swept both the Congress of Deputies and Senate, winning an absolute majority, 202 seats, in the Congress. The conservative AP, headed by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, came in a strong second with 106 congressional deputies. The communists plunged from 23 to 4 deputy seats. Moderate regional parties, such as the Basque National Party (PNV) and the Catalonian Convergence and Union (CIU), registered significant gains. On December 1, 1982, the Congress of Deputies approved the King's nomination of Felipe Gonzalez as prime minister.
The ruling PSOE did not serve out its term, preferring to call early elections, which were held on June 22, 1986. The PSOE renewed its absolute majority, winning 184 deputy seats and 44% of the vote. The AP-led Popular Coalition came in second with 105 seats and 26% of the vote. Former Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez made a comeback, his Democratic and Social Center (CDS) garnering 19 seats and 9.2% of the vote. CIU increased its showing to 18 seats and 5% of the ballots, and the Basque parties collectively won 13 seats, with Herri Batasuna, the political arm of the Basque terrorist group known as ETA, increasing its seats to 5, the PNV dropping to 6 seats. The various communist parties won 7 seats, polling 5.7% of the ballots. On July 23, 1986, the Congress of Deputies approved the King's nomination of Felipe Gonzalez for a second term as prime minister.
Soon after the election, the AP-led Popular Coalition began having problems, eventually leading the Christian Democratic PDP and the Liberal Party to withdraw from the Coalition. In late 1986, Manuel Fraga resigned as president of the AP, and, in 1987 he was replaced by Antonio Hernandez Mancha.
Regional and Municipal Government
The 1978 constitution authorized the creation of regional autonomous governments, and by 1985, 17 regions covering all of peninsular Spain, the Canaries, and the Balearic Islands had negotiated autonomy statutes with the central government. The first autonomous elections were held in the Basque and Catalan regions in 1979. Since then, governments have been created in the remainder of the 17 regions. About 10% of the Spanish Government budget is transferred directly to the regional governments, which employ 190,000 persons. After the round of regional elections held in May 1983, the PSOE controlled 12 autonomous governments, while coalition governments led by the AP were elected in Galicia and Cantabria. In 1984, elections in the Basque and Catalan regions were won by the regional PNV and the CIU of Catalonia. Elections for the Galician regional parliament were held November 1985, with the AP winning a plurality of the seats and currently heading a coalition government. Andalusia had its regional elections in June 1986, with the PSOE recapturing an absolute majority of the deputy seats; the Basque country called early elections for November 1986, with the PSOE winning a plurality and creating a governing coalition with the PNV. All other regions had elections in June 1987, except for Catalonia. The PSOE continued to lose ground to the other parties in these elections.
In municipal elections held in May 1983, the PSOE elected 2,640 mayors, the opposition Popular Alliance coalition, 2,471. The majority of Spain's principal cities; however, went to the socialists. All municipalities held elections in June 1987, and the socialists lost their previous majorities in the major cities, garnering 37% of the vote nationwide.
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, December 1987.