The Democratic Transition in Spain: Key Events (1979-1982)

3. Consolidación Tica and Democratic Crisis UCD (1979 - 1982):
Adopted the Constitution, Suarez called for new elections for March 1979, and UCD won again in the minority. In this period, he developed the State of Autonomous Regions. Title VIII of the Constitution established the possibility that all regions, and not only the historical nationalities, could become autonomous. They had to settle for legislative bodies (self-elected parliaments) elected by universal suffrage and executive bodies (self-government). It provided for the transfer of legislative and executive powers to the autonomous powers, establishing two degrees of autonomy, since the autonomous powers could receive different levels of skills and a different pace. Approved the autonomy statute. The first were the Catalan and Basque in 1979, approved by referendum, then Galicia and Andalusia in 1980, and then all up to 17 Comunidades Autónomas.

There were also the first democratic municipal elections (April 1979) with victory for the left, usually the PSOE and the PCE-PSOE, in major cities. The Workers' Statute (1980) and the Divorce Law (1981) were approved. Spain entered NATO, with strong opposition from the left; the PSOE promised to hold a referendum on NATO to stay in the country when it came to power. The PSOE renounced Marxist ideology after an extraordinary congress of the party and hardened their opposition. The PCE suffered a crisis because Carrillo failed to control dissent. AP was strengthened by the incorporation of UCD.

The political crisis intensified. The PSOE presented a motion of censure against the government in May 1980, and Suarez began receiving criticism from the barons of his own party, which split into two groups: liberals and social democrats in the center-left; democrats and conservatives on the right wing. Suarez repeatedly changed his government. Abril Martorell, Deputy Prime Minister, resigned in July 1980, and Suarez elected Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo as his successor in January 1981.

On 23 February 1981, there was an attempted coup by Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard, Tejero, during the voting session in Congress for his inauguration as president of the government. In Military Region III (Valencia), Gen. Jaime Milans Bochs declared a state of war and took the tanks into the street. The lack of support for the coup by military leaders and the firm stance against the king foiled the operation. Calvo Sotelo could not stop the disintegration of the party, which suffered the abandonment of personalities to the right (AP) and left (PSOE). In the October 1982 elections, the PSOE won by an absolute majority. This marked the end point of the democratic transition in Spain.