SPANISH TRANSITION

Francoism to democracy

By Julia Álvarez, Marta Castellot, Anais Majarena y Laura Pascual.

4D
INDEX
Introduction 2
Methodology 4
Chapters / Epigraphs
1. Franco’s dictatorship 5
2. History of transition & events 9
3. Consequences / society, economy, demographic changes 14
4. Relation of Spain with the world. 18
Conclusion 20
Bibliography 21
Annexes 22

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INTRODUCTION
Spain was involved in a dictatorship led by Francisco Franco. It lasted from 1939 (when the
Spanish civil war finished) to 1975 (the year that Franco died). Just one political party existed,
the Falange and Franco had all the power over Spain.

Once he died a new era started and Spain began to be a democracy.

The Spanish Transition started after Franco's death on November 20, 1975.
The Transition process was proclaimed on 22 November 1975, this process changed the
dictatorship to democracy. As a result of Franco’s death, Juan Carlos de Borbón became the
political protagonist. Juan Carlos used to stay in the background following the guidelines set by
Franco, but right after his death he began to carry out a political project that was made by his
father Don Juan de Borbón.

The project consisted of the implantation of a democratic political system in Spain. This political
phenomenon was called Transition, and it lasted from 1975 to 1978 (year of creation of the
current Spanish Constitution).
During this time period, numerous political reforms were carried out, it was a very delicate
moment because the political elite and the army distrusted the monarch and they didn’t agree
with establishing a democracy, many of them wanted to continue with the dictatorship. King
Juan Carlos, I appointed Adolfo Suárez as Prime Minister, who carried out most of these reforms.
As for example: He legalized all political parties, a political amnesty was implanted, and they
allowed those people who were prohibited from entering the country after the civil war for
political reasons (Santiago Carrillo or the poet Rafael Alberti) to return to the country.
Also, democratic elections were held in 1977, the first after those of 1936 during the Second
Republic.
And finally, a new Constitution was drawn up on December 6, 1978, but before creating it, a
referendum was held in which the SI won by a large majority.

This dictator Francisco Franco could be reproached for many things related to abuses in terms of
civil and political liberties, but during his dictatorship there were a lot of merits of Franco's
regime in economic terms. The economy while he was the head of the government was really
high but during the last years of his dictatorship the economy began to decrease because of the
new changes that had taken place in the world due to modernization and the oil crisis. Spain was
far behind the rest of the foreign countries and that is why the economy lagged behind. This
economic backwardness was due to the censorship and isolation that existed in Spain during the
Franco years.
The economic changes in Spain began to be noticed when the Franco regime was coming to an
end. A few years before the dictatorship ended, the oil crisis began, but it got even worse once
Franco was dead.

It was the Spaniards themselves who called for a new regime change and finally Spain
modernized and there was a small economic growth.

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However, the Spanish economy was not as good as in other countries, so attempts were made to
improve the economy during the years of democracy, but the government of the time didn’t
achieve anything, and the economy was still bad.
Years later, after Spain joined the UN in 1955, an opening to the exterior was allowed and this
allowed economic growth in the country.

People began to work in factories and there was a rural exodus as soon as democracy began in
Spain, the number of students in the classrooms increased, in other words, there was more
schooling, the quality of life improved thanks to the quality of health.
In addition, different laws were approved, such as the divorce law in 1881 and the abortion law
in 1975.
During the Franco era, society was very controlled by Franco's government, but as there was a
transition to democracy, a modernization took place that allowed Spanish society to be freer and
everything improved, both economically and socially.

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METHODOLOGY
Our way of working consisted of dividing the chapters and each one developing and working on
one, the chapters are divided according to the topics that we thought were most important. The
first chapter talks about Franco's dictatorship and was developed by Laura, the second chapter is
about the history of the transition and events that happened, this chapter was developed by Marta
and Anais because it was a very long topic and chapters 3 and 4 were written by Julia. Then we
put all the information together and explained to each other what we had found and learned in
order to make the presentation in class. The introduction was written by Laura and the conclusion
by Marta and Anais.
We have worked very well, and we have arrived on time, we didn't work outside the school
because we had a lot of class time.

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1. Franco's dictatorship
1.1 The Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War, which took place between 1936 and 1939, developed in a climate of
confusion and internal tension due to the economic, political and social situation of the country.
During this period, Spain had almost 25 million citizens and there were large social gaps. It was
a harsh and cruel conflict between two sides (rebels and republicans) that caused more than half
a million deaths.

On July 12, 1936, the lieutenant of the assault guard, José Castillo, known for his left-wing
political ideals, was assassinated, probably by the Falangists. The reprisals were not long in
coming and on July 13, José Calvo Sotelo, parliamentary leader of the opposition Popular Front
party, was taken from his home and also assassinated.

These episodes and the climate of disorder were the detonator of the coup d'état that had been
brewing since March 1936. Several commanders and military officers participated in the so-
called "Revolt", headed by Generals Mola and Sanjurjo.

In November 1936, in the jail of Alicante, the lawyer and deputy José Antonio Primo de Rivera,
leader of the Falange party and son of General Primo de Rivera, was shot.

The President of the Republic was Manuel Azaña, leader of the Republican Left Party. In the
first part of the war, the presidency in Spain was led by the leader of the PSOE, Francisco Largo
Caballero, who from May 1937 was replaced by Juan Negrín as the new President of the
Government. At the end of the war, in March 1939, Republican Colonel Casado staged a coup
d'état against Negrín, ordering his surrender to General Franco's army.

As for foreign support, General Franco's army was helped by Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's
Italy, which sent their own military units (the German Condor Legion and the Italian Volunteer
Troops Corps), together with modern combat equipment. The main source of support for the
Republicans was the Soviet Union, which sent planes, tanks and machine guns, and Mexico also
took in Spanish refugees.

Due to the policy of non-intervention of the main Western democracies such as France, the
United Kingdom or the United States, the International Brigades were created, operated by the
European and North American communist parties and formed by some 40,000 anti-voluntary
world fascists who fought on the side of the Republicans. It is believed that this war was a test
for World War II, which began in September 1939.

1.2 Franco’s dictatorship

In 1939, after the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), a military dictatorship was
established in Spain. General Franco held all power, as reflected in the Fundamental Laws of the

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Kingdom, where he was Head of State and Government, head of the army and head of the only
political party, the Falange. Franco's dictatorship lasted 36 years, until his death in 1975.
In the early years of Franco's regime, all ideological values were imposed by the Spanish
Falange, also known as the "National Movement", which was the only political party that existed
in Spain. Years later, the Falange was founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1933. The
Falange represented the political arm of Franco's regime during 1939. However, after 1945
Franco began to lose political influence on other groups such as the military, the traditionalists
or the technocrats.

1.3 Spanish alliances, The Blue Division and problems during Franco’s dictatorship.

During World War II, Spain declared itself neutral. But Spain always shared more ideals with
the Axis powers, especially Germany and Italy, which had contributed significantly to the victory
of the Nationalists in the Civil War.

Franco's regime sent the Blue Division to the Russian front, sending approximately 50,000
soldiers to assist the German army.

The Blue Division was a volunteer unit from Francoist Spain that operated from 1941 to 1943
within the German army on the Eastern Front during World War II.

It was officially designated as the "Spanish Volunteer Division" by the Spanish Army and as the
250th Infantry Division by the Germans.

Francisco Franco had ensured power in Spain after the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil
War (1936-1939), and during this war the Nationalists received support from Nazi Germany.
Franco's authoritarian regime remained officially non-belligerent in World War II but
sympathized with the Axis powers. Following pressure from Spanish Foreign Minister Ramón
Serrano Suñer and senior Spanish army commanders after the launch of Operation Barbarossa
on June 22, 1941, Franco agreed to allow Spaniards to privately enlist in the German army and
agreed to provide tacit support. An infantry division was formed from Falangist and Spanish
army ranks and sent to train in Germany. The unit fought on the Eastern Front and participated
notably in the siege of Leningrad between 1941 and 1944 but was pulled back from the Front
after Allied pressure in October 1943 and returned to Spain shortly thereafter. Those who did not
return joined the 121st Infantry Division, the short-lived Blue Legion and, finally, the Waffen-
SS.

Once World War II was over, Franco's dictatorship was subjected to a harsh international
isolation by the victorious countries. As was to be expected, Spain did not benefit from the
Marshall Plan launched by the United States to finance the reconstruction of Europe. Nor was it
admitted to the United Nations, created in 1945.

From 1950 the Franco regime began to be recognized abroad. The Military Alliance with the
United States (with 4 military bases established in Spain) was signed, as well as the Concordat
treaty with the Vatican.

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In 1955, with the admission of Spain to the United Nations as a full member, and with the visit
to Spain of General Eisenhower, President of the United States, the international isolation of the
Franco dictatorship ended.

The 35 years of Franco's dictatorship can be divided into 3 phases: The Post-war years, the years
of economic development and the crisis and end of Francoism.

In the early post-war years, there was repression of opponents of the regime, including a guerrilla
movement, and the Maquis, which fought Franco's army and the Civil Guard in the mountains.
Politically, even some key government posts were held by generals. In this period there was a
serious economic crisis whose maximum manifestation was the rationing cards.

Economic development came in the 1960s with the 1959 Stabilization Plan, carried out by the
government known as "the technocrats", which opened the Spanish economy to the outside
world. The conversion of the Spanish currency into U.S. dollars opened the way for more
imports. Spanish GDP began to grow at a rate of more than 10% per year.

Opposition to the Franco regime came mainly from the Communist Party, which concentrated
its efforts in the university sphere and, above all, in the trade union sphere, with the creation of
the Commissions Obreras trade union in 1960 and the miners' strike in Asturias in 1962. At the
end of the 1960s ETA appeared, which soon became a terrorist group and carried out numerous
attacks in different parts of Spain.

The crisis and the end of Franco's regime were accompanied by a steady deterioration of General
Franco's health, which made it necessary to plan the continuity of the dictatorship. Admiral
Carrero Blanco was named President of the Government in 1973; however, that same year he
was assassinated by ETA. In September 1975, political tension in the country reached its highest
point with the sentencing to death and execution of five activists of the FRAP and ETA terrorist
organizations.

1.4 The Spanish transition to democracy

In the years previous to 1975, Franco began to lose power and political influence, but it was on
November 20, 1975 when General Franco died and a new era in the history of Spain began. The
Democratic Transition began, which would result in the Spanish Constitution, ratified in a
referendum in 1978, and the establishment of a parliamentary monarchy led by King Juan Carlos
I.
Once the dictator was dead, three political alternatives were considered in Spain:
1. Continuing with the Francoist political system, (defended by the Francoists or
immobilists).
2. The democratic rupture, with the formation of a provisional government that would put
an end to Franco's institutions and call elections to Constituent Courts (a position
defended by the political groups that had opposed Franco's regime).
3. To reform the political system based on Franco's institutions and laws until full
democracy was achieved.

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To continue with this decision, the position and decision of King Juan Carlos I was very
important. The monarch, promoter of political change, decided to take the reformist path. Juan
Carlos I had reached the position of king through Franco's laws, but he wanted to "reign for all
Spaniards".
But how to establish democracy? Starting from Franco's legality, the authoritarian regime was
overthrown through a process of political reform, led and promoted by Adolfo Suárez (43 years
old), which would put an end to Franco's regime and give way to a democratic Monarchy.
Adolfo Suárez had an important and difficult task: he had to convince the groups that wanted to
continue with Franco's regime and to get the moderation of the opposition groups.
The difference between the Spanish transition process and that of other countries was the fact
that in Spain there was no break with the immediate past, but rather a reform that changed the
main bases of the political system without social trauma. A Law for Political Reform changed
the essence of the Francoist system.
The success of the Spanish Transition lies in the fact that the message was always to reach a
compromise, even between opposing political forces.
The Transition to democracy was a process in which all political forces participated in peace and
freedom.
The result of the general elections of June 1977 gave victory to the political party of Adolfo
Suárez (UCD).
From that moment on, the process of building democracy in Spain and the drafting of a new
Constitution began.

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2. History of transition & events
Between 1975, the year of the death of General Francisco Franco, and 1977, the year in which
the first free elections were held. The peaceful transition from a dictatorial system to a
parliamentary democracy took place.

2.1 Death of general francisco franco and the presidency of Arias Navarro

These changes began in 1975, marking a before and after in the political history of Spain. On
November 20 of that year, the dictator Francisco Franco died, who, for four decades, marked a
black period in our country. Later, after the murder of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, Franco's
right-hand man, who had been head of the Spanish Government until he was killed by the terrorist
group ETA on December 20, 1973, Carlos Arias Navarro took office.

Arias Navarro, after the death of the then President, entered the government as Minister of the
Interior in 1973. Despite the fact that the responsibility for security fell on Arias' Ministry, he
was elected as head of the government, which means that he was named President of the
government by King Juan Carlos I in 1974.
Arias Navarro formed a heterogeneous cabinet, with ultra-conservative positions, with which he
tried to launch a timid opening (the spirit of February 12) which was halted by internal opposition
and the risks of democratization. His government was very unpopular, due to his immobile and
contradictory character, the economic difficulties of the moment (oil crisis) and the multiple
conflicts that led to his misunderstanding of the situation of the regime (executions of 1974-75
and the conflict with the Vatican regarding the bishopric of Bilbao).
He wanted a Spanish democracy, instead of a European democracy, and due to the opposition of
this movement, numerous strikes and mobilizations were created throughout 1976 to overthrow
Arias Navarro. The increase of anti-Franco activities ended up destroying his government, and
after this, due to the fear of democratic rupture, King Juan Carlos I (successor of Francisco
Franco) forced the resignation of Arias Navarro and designated Adolfo Suarez as President of
the government.

2.2 The presidency of Adolfo Suarez and his reforms.

As a consequence of this appointment, the first elections of the modern democratic period were
held on June 15, 1977, a year and a half after the death of the Spanish Dictator. These were called
by the new President of the Government, Adolfo Suárez, with the purpose of forming a
Constituent Courts that would legislate a new Constitution to leave behind the National
Movement.
A total of 63 political formations were presented to these elections, among them many of the
parties we know today; PSOE, PNV, Falange Española de la JONS, PCE, Alianza Popular, re-
founded as Partido Popular, and others. However, the UCD (Unión de Centro Democrático) won
the elections, with 34, 44% of the votes, and 165 seats, as opposed to the PSOE, which obtained
118 seats, and the PCE, which obtained only 20 seats. From that moment on, a new stage began
with Adolfo Suárez, which started a singular period that has lasted more than 40 years.

9
It was then, on July 3, when Adolfo Suarez was definitively named President of the government,
which would last 4 years.
Adolfo Suarez was born in Avila in 1932, was trained in Law and was a key figure in the process
of democratic transition. After the approval of the law of political associations, which helped to
move from dictatorship to democracy. This law in its first article states that "democracy, in the
Spanish State" was based "on the supremacy of the Law, expression of the sovereign will of the
people", and includes the obligation of the government to promote the first elections to courts to
elect a congress and a senate.
Still during the Franco regime, it also promoted the political association Unión Democrática del
Pueblo Español (UDPE). It is said that the first President of the Spanish democracy after Franco's
dictatorship was Adolfo Suarez, although this designation is not entirely accurate since the first
government of the Monarchy, after Franco's death and the appointment of Juan Carlos I as head
of state, was still presided over by Carlos Arias Navarro, who had been appointed President of
the Government after the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco in December 1973.

In his speech, "I can promise and I promise". Adolfo Suarez committed himself to try to elaborate
a Constitution in collaboration with all the groups represented in the Courts, whatever their
number of seats. On the other hand, he promised to put all his efforts to achieve a social
understanding which would allow the new basic lines to be followed by the Spanish economy in
the next few years".

In 1978, Spain already had a constitution. The Constitution is a consensual text, the final outcome
of debate and agreement between the parliamentary forces democratically elected in the elections of
15 June 1977. The Lower House of Parliament appointed seven deputies, representing all
parliamentary groups, to draft an initial proposal. Subsequently, during its processing, it was
amended and completed and, on 31 October 1978, the General Courts approved the final text..
Spanish citizens were called to a referendum to vote on the Constitution on 6 December 1978.
Following ratification, it entered into force on 29 December of the same year.

Adolfo Suárez, at the head of the UCD, won the victory again in 1979. But the political wear and
tear of this period, the coupist tensions of some military commanders and sectors of residual
Francoism caused his government to suffer. Suarez faced a motion of censure in 1980 presented
by the PSOE. Finally, he decided to quit in January 1981. He passed away on March 23, 2014 at
the age of 81, going down in history as one of the key figures of the Transition.

2.3 The presidency of Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo and and the coup d'état

After this, came Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo. He was born in Madrid in 1926 and trained as a civil
engineer. When the dictator died, he became more active in politics, joined Reforma Democrática
(Manuel Fraga's party) and was appointed Minister of Commerce in the first government of the
restored Monarchy (under the presidency of Carlos Arias Navarro, 1975-76). He continued in
the cabinet when the presidency passed to Adolfo Suárez, who had a spot in Public Works (1976-
77).
He resigned from office to run in the first democratic elections (1977) and to concentrate on the
organization of the new party that would win them, the Union of Democratic Centre (UCD) of
President Suarez. His political career continued to rise, he was UCD speaker in Congress (1977-
10
78), minister for relations with the European Economic Community (1978-79) and vice-president
of the Government for Economic Affairs (1980-81). After the resignation of Adolfo Suárez, he
became President of the Government in 1981. His government was the shortest mandate in the
history of democracy. As Moncloa sources detail, the law on divorce was the beginning of the
breakdown of the UCD when the first case of parliamentary indiscipline occurred. In 1982 he
quit as President of his political party, but regained his parliamentary seat in 1983. On November
16, 2005 he joined the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences and in 2007 he co-
founded the 'Spanish Transition' Foundation.
During his investiture, the attempted coup d'état took place.
Actually, it all began when Adolfo Suarez resigned on January 29, 1981.

After his resignation, Suarez proposed to put Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo in charge as his successor.
However, his candidacy should have had a majority in the congress, which did not happen in the
first vote, so the investiture session had to be repeated. On 23 February 1981, when it was being
held, the session was suddenly interrupted at 6.23 p.m. by the entry of 200 armed civil guards,
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero. After this Tejero climbed up to the
rostrum and fired several shots at the ceiling and shouted, 'Everybody freeze', after which all the
deputies crouched down in their respective seats. During the coup they realised that there were
several journalists and asked them for their reels, journalist Hernandez de Leon gave him a blank
reel, so when they let the journalists leave at 10.30pm he went straight to the newsroom and there
to all the media.
Gutierrez Peldaños got up and confronted the guards, followed by Suarez. The news had spread
throughout the country thanks to the media. Dozens of journalists broadcast live on radio and
television the events that citizens experienced as one of the most important events of the Spanish
transition.
Most citizens spent the whole night hooked to the radio, which is why that night is known as 'the
night of the transistors'.
When it was confirmed that Tejero had taken over the congress, the captain general of the army
gave the signal for the deployment of military forces from Valencia.
As the hours passed, it was determined that the coup had not had sufficient support to go ahead.
At 1 a.m. King Juan Carlos I appeared on television to address the country and order that
constitutional order be maintained.
The following morning, at 9am, the 'Hood Pact' was signed, which stated that "the coup leaders
surrendered in exchange for not being held accountable from the rank of lieutenant downwards".
And at 11.45am, the deputies left the congress, making 23 F a day to be remembered in Spanish
history.

Finally, during the term of office of Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo (1981-82), the government took a
turn towards more conservative positions, promoted a wage moderation agreement between
employers and trade unions, curbed the granting of autonomy to the regions by means of a pact
with the Socialist opposition and adopted the unpopular measure of joining NATO. However, he
was unable to prevent the accelerated decomposition of his party, which led to the overwhelming
electoral victory of the Socialist Felipe González in 1982. To be precise, it was on 28 October
1982 that the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) won an absolute majority in the general
elections. This event officially marked the end of the Spanish transition to democracy. On the
institutional level, however, the transition had ended in December 1978.
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The alternation of power and the ceding of power from one party to another was something that
Spain had not experienced for almost 50 years. However, this process was experienced quite
naturally and served to strengthen democracy.

2.4 The Felipe Gonzalez government.

After this, as previously mentioned, the new leader was Felipe González, who governed until
1996. These years with the socialist party in power were years of modernisation of the country
and economic, political and social progress. It is worth mentioning 1986, when Spain joined the
European Economic Community, which was transformed into the current European Union (EU)
in 1992 with the Maastricht Treaty. During his long term of office (13 years and 5 months), the
existence of the GAL (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación), a paramilitary organisation in
charge of pursuing members of the terrorist group ETA, stands out. These years also saw the
creation of the different Autonomous Communities with their corresponding autonomous
governments. Two major events in 1992 that raised Spain's international profile were the
Universal Exhibition in Seville and the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Finally, in 1993, he was
again president, but with a simple majority.

2.5 José María Aznar (PP)

In 1989 Jose Maria Aznar continued to hold the presidential office, after winning the general
elections with the Popular Party. On 19 April 1995 he was the victim of an ETA attack in Madrid
in which he escaped unharmed.
Finally, he governed from 5 May 1996 with the moderate support of the moderate nationalists
until 2004. During this mandate he initiated economic liberalisation and privatisation of large
public companies.
He was re-elected president of the government in the general elections of May 2000, with his
party winning an absolute majority. In this second stage, his policies were oriented towards the
outside world and he allied himself with the guidelines of the European Union and the foreign
policy of the United States.
In September 2003 he proposed Mariano Rajoy as a candidate for the 2004 general elections.

2.6 The presidency of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

On March 14, 2004, the PSOE won the general elections and, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero,
became the fifth President of the Government of Democracy. He constituted the first Executive
with parity between men and women in the history of Spain. The first measures adopted included
the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the Law against Gender Violence, the Law of Equality, the
Law of Historical Memory, the so-called Law of Dependency or the one that allows same-sex
marriages.
In March 2008, his second term of office began with the proposal of the Sustainable Economy
Law, whose objective was to lay the foundations for renewing the Spanish productive model
within the framework of the international economic crisis.
In April 2011, when the Spanish economy was not yet showing signs of recovery, Rodríguez
Zapatero announced that he would not run as a candidate for the 2012 elections.

12
The elections were brought forward to November 20, 2011, which gave the victory to Mariano
Rajoy.

2.6 The presidency of Mariano Rajoy

From 2011 to 2019, Mariano Rajoy (Partido Popular) was president of the government, after an
absolute majority and an economic policy of readjustments in order to solve the economic crisis
caused by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Before becoming president, he had been a policy maker in Aznar's government as Minister of
Public Administration (1996-1999) and Minister of Education and Culture (1999-2000).
In the end, repeated corruption scandals splashed dozens of members of his party, especially the
so-called Gürtel plot, which led to a motion of censure led by the PSOE that did not allow him
to finish the legislature and resulted in his departure from the government on 1 June 2018.

2.6 The current president

Pedro Sanchez has been the current president of the government since June 2018.
Before achieving this, he had to face the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Susana Díaz. He
won by 50% of the votes.
He came to power in June 2018, after removing Mariano Rajoy from power with a motion of
censure. To do so, she had the support of Podemos and the Basque and Catalan pro-independence
parties.
However, he had to achieve an absolute majority, signing pacts with Podemos and minority
groups in parliament, known as a coalition government.
But at the end of 2023, he will be competing to remain in government, or for another political
party to enter government.

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3. Economic, social, and demographic changes

3.1 Economic changes

After a great decrease in the Spanish economy due to the Civil War, there was a clear increase
in the country's wealth, years in which the dictator Francisco Franco governed Spain. This
dictator could be reproached for many things related to abuses in terms of civil and political
liberties, but one thing that is not written or spoken about is the merits of Franco's regime in
economic terms.

In the first phase of Franco's regime (1939-1957) there was an average annual economic growth
of 3.4% and in the second phase (1959-1975) an average annual economic growth of 5.5%.

The economic growth of this second phase is especially high and strong and if we compare this
economic growth suffered by Spain with the economic growth data of the rest of Europe, we can
see that in the first stage of Francoism the economic growth of Spain and Europe were more or
less equal while in the second stage of Francoism the Spanish economy surpassed by far the
economic growth of Europe.

In any case, Francoism ended in Spain with a great economic crisis, known as the oil crisis, the
Spanish economy suffered the beginning of the consequences of the crisis at the end of 1973, in
which the price of a barrel of crude oil went from 3 dollars in October 1973 to 11.65 dollars in
January 1974. In the same year, the amount Spain paid for oil increased by 6% and went from
62,000 pennies to 199,000 pennies, which would be 1,196,014 euros. This meant a decrease in
the demand for products manufactured in Spain and, consequently, a decrease in production and
exports, which in turn led to a drop in the level of activity in Spain.

14
In addition, Spanish companies were very weakened since the increase in energy prices led to
higher production costs and, therefore, a lower production while spending the same amount of
money on raw materials, which in turn produced less profit.

This crisis occurs at a time when the Franco dictatorship was weakened, although unemployment
rates were low and there was a great economic growth, the Spanish economy began to lose
power, in that year (1973), the GDP of the Spanish economy was 7.8%, in 1974 the GDP suffered
a large decline to 5.7% and in 1975 it was seen as a great economic growth, In 1975 the economy
collapsed and the GDP fell to 1.1%, unemployment rates rose from 2.2% to 2.6% in 1974 and
reached 3.8% in 1975. These, among many other data, showed the consequences suffered by the
economy as a result of the great crisis.

Finally, on November 20, 1975, the military dictator Francisco Franco died, and so did the Franco
regime. Two days later, on November 22, 1975, Juan Carlos de Borbón was proclaimed King
Juan Carlos de Borbón, successor of Franco, proclaiming the monarchy in Spain.

In 1977, with the approval of the constitution and various situations, a government with the
possibility of redirecting the economy was seen, but in 1979 the new political and economic
problems broke down this new stability.
The first absolute majority in Spain was in 1982, which meant a stability that would last this
time.

From the economic perspective, the political transition ended in 1985, and in that year Spain's
integration into the European Union was achieved, a symbol of stability and democratic
normality.

It has been more than 40 years since this change of regime and we can say that we are a more
equal country, that we have a very extensive infrastructure network and a high degree of
openness to the outside world, but we have a very low productivity and great difficulties in
generating employment.

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3.2 Social changes

The three keys to this transition were the change in society, the reconciliation of Spaniards and
political reform.

While the society of the 50's was modernizing, the political regime was still as precarious, there
was a division of thoughts, those who from the universities began to feel a rejection towards the
Franco regime and those who thought that with the Franco regime could provide a service to
society.

At the beginning of the 60's the great majority of the population worked in the countryside, but
this changed in 1975. When the population began to work in factories, the cities began to be full
because only a third of the population still lived in rural areas and the per capita income was at
80%, when the monarchy began in 1975 the number of students in high school and college
doubled those from previous years, there was also an improvement in health, raising life
expectancy and reducing infant mortality by half.

"The transition had an employer, the King; an author, Torcuato, and an actor, Adolfo Suárez", a
phrase pronounced by Torcuato Fernández Miranda.

At the beginning of the 70's in the democratizing tries it strongly helped the general desire of the
Spaniards to avoid another conflict like the Civil War and the understanding of the reformists
both Francoists and anti-Francoists, who understood that the State didn't have to be destroyed by
this transition from one regime to another. But in the Spain of 1975 the necessary conditions for
this change to democracy didn't exist, the great majority of Spaniards thought that after the
modernization that Spain had suffered during the last years it was necessary to start a democratic
regime, the society was clear about what they wanted and had to do but they didn't know how to
do it.

These changes in society and these modernizations led to the drafting of different laws.
Divorce Law 1981, the approval of this law meant that it was possible to divorce your couple,
the church was against the approval of the same but from that year more than 600,000 couples
divorced in Spain, this law has been reformed as the years have passed, currently it is not
necessary for a couple to separate to get divorced.

Law of partial decriminalization of abortion in 1985, until this same year abortion was
punishable, this law meant that abortion would be legal with a series of conditions; that the
abortion took place in a hospital and with doctors, that it was given if the pregnancy involved a
risk to the physical or psychological health of the mother or was the result of rape and that the
child was to be born with psychic or physical problems.

This change in society also brought about changes in schooling rates and in the shape of the
family.

16
In (1982-1983) the schooling rate for children was 85.5% while in the year (1991-1992) it was
96.3%, from 6 to 13 years old it was 100% in both cases, from 14 to 15 years old it increased
from 76.9% to 97.7% and from 16 to 17 years old it increased from 51.5% to 64.9%.

In addition, this modernization implied a new conception of families. At the European level, this
modernization of families took place in the 1960s, but in Spain it occurred a decade later due to
Franco's regime. Single-parent families, families reconstructed after divorce, people living
alone... Have been normalized.

3.3 Demographic changes

The modernization of Spain and this transition period meant that Spain came closer to the
population structure of an industrialized, developed and democratic country. This meant a
stagnation of population growth, a decrease in fertility, birth and mortality rates, an increase in
life expectancy, and therefore a general increase of the population. In addition, the decrease in
infant mortality rates is an indicator of the country's development and improvements in the
quality of life of the population.

After the boom of the 50's, the birth rate in Spain began to fall, either because nowadays raising
a child is much more expensive than before, the lack of a policy of family protection and birth
rate, the incorporation of women to work, etc...

From 1960 onwards there were large flows of migration abroad, especially to Europe, but in the
seventies this trend was reversed and we received immigration from North Africa, in addition
the rural exodus meant a mechanization of the rural world and in turn an excess of labor.
Monopolies such as Barcelona and Madrid arose, which provided more opportunities for the
rural world.

For this reason, the rural world sees how its population decreases and ages, which generates a
very large territorial imbalance, since the cities see their population increase while the rural areas
remain empty. This large influx of people to the cities could not be assumed in a rational way,
creating a disorderly and socially segregated structure.

17
4. Spain's relationship with the EU and the world
Spain during Franco's regime was brutally isolated by the civil war that it suffered at that time
and the Second World War abroad, the censorship that was lived in Spain did not allow neither
the entry of artistic trends nor the publication in the press of the situation in Europe, even so
relations were established with Portugal, Latin America and the Arab world, this will replace for
a few years the little relationship of Spain with the EU, this period of isolation can be divided
into 3 stages; From 1945 to 1942, when there was an implacable and very hard isolation that
worked with a system of sanctions, from 1952 to 1970, during which there was a more flexible
isolation and the third stage in which the Preferential Agreement between Spain and the
European Economic Community was signed on 29 June 1970, until the death of General Franco
in November 1 pleting the necessary steps to bring the Spanish economy into line with the
conditions of the Common Market". This letter generated a movement of empathy in different
parts of Europe, but Spain needed unanimous approval and the message from Europe to Spain
was that either it would become a democracy, or it would not join the European Union.
On 29 June 1970 Spain signed an agreement in Luxembourg with the European Economic
Community, with the aim of removing all obstacles to Spain's entry into the EU.

After Franco's death, Spain applied to join what were then called the European Communities,
i.e., the ECSC, EEC and Euratom. On 1 January 1986, after a tough period of negotiations, it
became a full member.
European integration helped to consolidate the new democratic system. It also provided an
important market for Spanish products and helped to modernise society and reduce internal
regional imbalances. However, Spain had to adapt its economy and welfare state to reach
European standards. To this end, the country received substantial EU funds, which helped to
improve all economic sectors, raise GDP per capita to the European average and implement
social programmes to promote employment and combat social inequalities.

Today, Spain is the second largest EU country in terms of surface area, the fifth largest in terms
of population, the fourth largest economy in the Eurozone and the fifth largest in the EU. It
actively participates in European institutions, where it promotes initiatives for political,
economic and social improvement, and acts as an intermediary between the most advanced
countries and those that joined the EU in 2004.

Spain, with the rest of the world

Spain is currently an active participant in numerous international institutions and organizations,
such as the UN, the OECD and NATO. It cooperates in development aid through the Spanish
Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and is a signatory to numerous
international treaties and agreements.

Economically, Spain is a middle power, ranking 13th in the world according to its nominal GDP
in 2015. However, in recent years it has increased its participation in the global economy, as
evidenced by the presence of foreign multinational companies in Spain and Spanish companies
abroad, as well as the increase in trade and foreign investment.

18
In the social sphere, it maintains close relations with other countries through migration and,
above all, tourism, an area in which Spain ranks third in terms of tourist arrivals and second in
terms of income, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

In the cultural sphere, Spain has outstanding personalities and organizes important events, which
contribute to promoting a positive image of the country. Some examples are the Princess of
Asturias Awards, the Mobile World Congress, Madrid Fusión, an international gastronomic
summit, the ARCO contemporary art fair and the International Tourism Fair (FITUR).

19
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, The Transition was the spark of the beginning of Spanish democracy and it was a
period of political and social change that took place in Spain between the death of dictator
Francisco Franco in 1975 and the adoption of the current Spanish Constitution in 1978.

During this period, Spain moved from a dictatorship to a democracy, with significant changes
in the political, social and cultural spheres. The transition was marked by several key events,
such as the legalization of political parties, the release of political prisoners and the holding of
democratic elections.

One of the most important figures during the Transition was King Juan Carlos I, who played a
fundamental role in guiding the country towards democracy. Other protagonists were political
leaders such as Adolfo Suárez, Felipe González...

Although the Spanish Transition was not without its difficulties, such as acts of terrorism and
political violence, it is generally considered a successful process that laid the foundations of
modern Spain. Today, Spain is a stable, prosperous and democratic country, and the legacy of
the Transition continues to shape Spanish politics and society.

To sum up, in our personal opinion, we believe that the Spanish transition has been very
important for Spain’s history, and to know more about our country.
It has been a very important period because we were able to move from a dictatorship to a
democracy, and to have all possible freedoms and equality. With several presidents.

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ANNEXES

(ANNEXE I) (ANNEXE II)

(ANNEXE III) (ANNEXE III)

22