Spain's Economic and Social Shifts Under Franco's Rule

Economic Recovery in Franco's Spain

The new measures boosted the economy. The economic growth meant an annual increase in GDP of 4.5% between 1951 and 1957, a rate higher than any other European country at the time, with the exception of Germany and Italy.

In the same years, foreign trade increased tenfold.

Despite this, up to 1954, per capita income did not match the existing levels before the Civil War. The standard of living of the majority of the population did not rise significantly because the development was based on an abundant supply of cheap labor and the migration of rural workers to urban centers.

Social Developments During the Franco Regime

The Social Dynamic

The dictatorship was able to increase the support of the population, but the working class was in a state of subjection and precariousness.

The Social Bases of Franco's Support

• The Franco dictatorship had the support of large landowners, the industrial bourgeoisie, the financial aristocracy, and the administrative and ecclesiastical elite from the outset. These groups regained economic power, and the social and political reforms of the Second Republic and the revolutionary process opened in the Republican zone during the conflict had been compromised.
• The Franco regime also found support from a new middle class formed by entrepreneurs and speculators who had emerged during the era of autarky under concessions and state projects. The bourgeoisie exploited the black market and operated in an atmosphere of corruption.
• The Franco regime also maintained the support of small and medium farmers who had relied on the military uprising of July 18, 1936, in various parts of the country. Interventionist policy served the interests of this social sector fairly well.
• The regime addressed the challenge of expanding its social base by capturing the middle classes of the city. The fact that Franco was stabilized at an early date meant that various segments of the middle classes abandoned their reluctance to join it. The Falange, the Church (through Catholic Action, ACNP, or Opus Dei), and the army channeled the accession of the middle classes to the established political system.

The Working Class Under Franco

• The Franco regime denied the existence of class struggle and attributed social unrest to the work of trade union organizations of Marxist and anarchist persuasion. Consequently, the authorities banned trade unions, abolished the right to strike, and suppressed workers' representation in companies.
• The Labor Law Regulations (1942) established the setting of working conditions as a State prerogative.
• In return for this state of helplessness, the regime gave broad guarantees of stability in the workplace and implemented a social protection policy paternalistic in nature, mainly directed at the masses.
• The National Insurance Institute managed the scheme of family allowances and old age, compulsory insurance against sickness, work injury benefits, and so on.