Spain's Democratic Shift After Franco's Death

The Political Transition After Franco

The subject X

After the death of Franco, Juan Carlos I was proclaimed king in a political context of great uncertainty. There began a complex process of transition from dictatorship to a democratic system.

This transition process has become over the years into a model for many countries due to the low level of violence that accompanied it.

The Political Forces on the Scene

The Francoist Faction

When Franco died, the differences between the "bunker", organized around figures like Blas Pinar, and "openings" were sharpened. Among the latter were:

• Veteran politicians of the dictatorship who were convinced of the need for change (e.g., Areilza, Fraga).
• Young people who had lived through the civil war and who were to play a key role in the transition. Adolfo Suarez will be the key figure in this group.

The Opposition Forces

The liberal right-wing forces were very weak and were grouped around figures like Ruiz Gimenez and Gil Robles, or supporters of Juan de Borbon, the father of the monarch.

The 1978 Constitution

The Constitutional Process

Within weeks of his election, the courts began the work for drafting the Constitution. The Cortes in 1977 immediately became Constituent Cortes.

A Constitutional Commission was elected, and seven members were chosen to produce a first draft text as constitutional. These seven members, the "fathers of the constitution", were:

• Gabriel Cisneros, Miguel Herrero de Mignon, and José Pedro Pérez Llorca (UCD)
• Gregorio Peces-Barba (PSOE)
• Pauline Julien (PCE)
• Miquel Roca (representing Catalan and Minority PNV)
• Manuel Fraga (AP)

The absence of a representative of the PNV, linked to the question of "historical rights", had serious consequences because the main Basque nationalist party ultimately did not support the constitutional text.

The Autonomic Process

Given the desire for self-government of Basques and Catalans, manifested dramatically when a million and a half Catalans marched for autonomy in Barcelona on September 11th, the Suarez government began the autonomic process before the adoption of the Constitution.