Spanish transition to democracy

The Spanish transition to democracy or new bourbon restoration was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Francoto a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on November 20, 1975, while its completion is marked by the electoral victory of the socialist PSOE on October 28, 1982.

The Political Role of King Juan Carlos I

The death of Franco elevated Don Juan Carlos de Borbón to political prominence. Until Franco’s death, Juan Carlos had discreetly stood in the background and seemed to follow the dictator’s plans. However, Juan Carlos soon showed he had his own ideas upon taking power. Instead of carrying on Franco’s plan, he facilitated, as King of Spain, the development of a democratic political system, just as his father, Don Juan de Borbón, had advocated since 1946.

In fact, the transition was an ambitious plan that counted on ample support both within and outside of Spain. The western nations, headed by the United States, wanted a move towards Spanish democracy, as did an important part of Spanish and international capitalism. An outstanding part of Franco’s Spanish opposition also bet on Juan Carlos’s plan as a chance for political change. It was even a solution that many who favored Franco’s regimen supported.

One could think the transition would be easy because of this, but it was not. The specter of the Spanish Civil War still haunted a country with both extreme radicals of the left and groups of Francoists on the extreme right who had considerable support within the army. This produced an unstable political situation where a single spark could ignite a powder keg.

The realization of this project rested on the opposition controlling its radical elements to avoid any provocation and the army resisting the tendency to intervene in the political process to save the Francoist elements of Spanish government. Don Juan Carlos and his collaborators had to work to control instability from both the left and right.

Juan Carlos began his reign without leaving the confines of Franco’s legal system. As such, he swore fidelity to the Principles of the Movement, took possession of the crown before the Francoist Cortes, and respected the Ley Orgánica del Estado (The Organic Law of the State) for the appointment of his first head of government. Only in his speech before the Cortes did he show the beginning of the transformation of the Spanish political system.