Opposition Movements in Late Francoist Spain

Opposition Movements in Late Francoist Spain

→ These movements were born as an independent, democratic, unitary movement and boosted the labor struggle. While creating this new unionism, university student organizations appeared in opposition to the official Spanish University Union (SEU), which had compulsory membership. In 1956 the first incident occurred in Madrid, where a student was seriously injured. New social movements also emerged. The 1960s witnessed the first mass demonstrations in the streets and a dramatic increase in industrial disputes. The political opposition: In the 1960s the opposition to Franco was recomposed through the renewed activity of the old political parties and through the emergence of new groups on the left and right, from social liberalism to monarchism. One group was the modern opposition: the Christian Democrats. One of the actions that had the greatest impact was what newspapers called the 'Munich conspiracy', which called for the demise of the regime and the transition to a democratic Spain. Attendees at that meeting were imprisoned or exiled upon their return. The PCE (Spanish Communist Party) gained great importance in those years. From the 1960s it began a political line of penetration into the mass organizations, bringing together anti-Franco forces regardless of the side they had been on in the war.

PSOE and Internal Tensions

Meanwhile, within the PSOE, tensions began to occur with young activists who organized the party inside Spain (the "interior"). It was at the Suresnes Congress that the party overcame difficulties and leadership remained in the hands of militants inside the country.

Rise of Nationalist Parties

At the end of the Franco period nationalist parties also began to gain importance. In the Basque Country the hegemony of the PNV continued. In Catalonia, a nationalist group began to form that became known as the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC).

Unitary Bodies and Coalitions

In the last years of Franco, opposition groups were involved not only in street actions to express their demand for democratization, but also in creating unitary policy-setting bodies. The PCE remained the main reference for the Anti-Franco Board and the movement that included:

• Democratic CC.OO. (workers' commissions)
• Some socialists
• Independents
• Monarchists
• Carlists
• Left-wing groups

The PSOE promoted the Democratic Convergence Platform with a program very similar to that proposed by the Board. After the death of Franco, the union of these two alliances formed Democratic Coordination. The proposed policy of this organization was expressed in the formula of democratic rupture, i.e., a constitutional procedure to lay the foundations of a new political system.