Francoist Spain Political Evolution 1959-1975

Francoist Spain: Political Developments (1959-1975)

Institutional Development and Internal Power Struggles

Institutionalization

• 1962: TOP (Public Order Court), for the political repression of workers, professionals, students, and rural populations.
• 1963: Law of Bases of the Social Security.
• 1966: (without altering the basic political structure of the regime)
  • Press Act, sponsored by Fraga, abolishing prior censorship (enacted two years after the Official Secrets Act).
  • Organic Law of the State (endorsed as a fundamental law reaffirming the regime's foundations; new features: direct election by heads of family households and married women, possibility of creating political associations). Its full implementation, including the role of Prime Minister (Admiral Carrero Blanco), was not expected until 1973.
• 1969: Juan Carlos's designation as successor.
• 1970: Education Act.

Internal Tensions

These tensions arose from the balance of power between the 'families' of the regime, reflected in government changes.

Actors

• Opus Dei Technocrats: Fundamentalist in religion and Europeanization in economy.
• Authoritarians: Permanent crusading spirit, admitting no changes (e.g., military, Falangists).
• Reformists: Sought to adapt the Franco regime to a rapidly changing society in the 1960s, driven by economic and urban development and tourism impact.

Motivations

• Disruptions in economic growth (e.g., controlling inflation).
• How to cope with growing opposition, mostly with a "strong hand" (e.g., Grimau shootings and repression of anarchists in 1963; the Burgos trial in 1970 sentencing ETA members to death, commuted due to internal opposition and international campaign, which strengthened ETA; execution by garrote of five anti-Franco militants in 1975).
• Specific cases of corruption, such as the Matesa scandal (1969).

Effects

Balance of power between the 'families' of the regime, reflected in government changes.

Reference: Speech (1973)

International Relations

Approach to the EEC

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Castiella, initiated negotiations in 1962 leading to a preferential commercial agreement (the EEC did not support undemocratic members).

Relations with the USA

Renewal of the 1953 agreement (financial assistance and military bases in Spanish territory - Zaragoza, Torrejón, Rota, and Morón).

Decolonization

• Independence of Morocco in 1956, conflict over Sidi Ifni in 1957.
• Independence of Equatorial Guinea, 1968.
• Cession of Ifni to Morocco in 1969.
• Abandonment of Western Sahara in 1975.

The Gibraltar Dispute

Claim over Gibraltar: negotiations in 1964 and after closure of the border.

The Strengthening of the Opposition

Development of the labor movement, uniting labor and political demands.

Labor Movement

• Older unions barely survived underground (UGT in Asturias and Biscay; CNT in Barcelona).
• Workers' Commissions (Comisiones Obreras) arose from the Agreements Act 1958 (which permitted negotiation at the enterprise and industry level).
• During the 1962 strikes (starting in Asturian mining), CCOO (a clandestine union linked to the Communist Party) appeared for the first time. It became the most influential union (led by Marcelino Camacho).

Student Opposition

Although the student movement began as early as the 1950s, it intensified since the mid-1960s, managing to dismantle the SEU (the official Falangist student union).

Catholic Protest Movements

Catholic unionism, worker-priests, providing refuge to the opposition in convents and churches, a growing gap between the Church and the regime (influenced by Vatican II).

Nationalist Resurgence

Resurgence of nationalist opposition: Catalan nationalism (an interclass movement) and Basque nationalism (PNV and ETA).

Political Parties

(Operating internally and in exile)

• PCE: Communist Party of Spain, the most influential, pursuing a national reconciliation strategy that led to splits.
• PSOE: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, which was revitalized internally (led by Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra).
• 1962 Munich Congress: (referred to as the "Munich Conspiracy" by the regime) a meeting organized by the European Movement involving various opposition groups and parties (e.g., Gil Robles, monarchist liberals, social democrats, socialists).
• 1974 Democratic Junta:

Reference: Democratic Junta Statement (1974)