The Democratic Junta of Spain ( es, Junta Democrática de España, JDE) was a Spanish organization that coordinated various pro-democracy parties, unions and associations (all illegal) during the late

Francoist State Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

History

Origins

The Democratic Junta of Spain was a body created by the initiative of Antonio García-Trevijano, seeking to form a coalition of political, union and social forces of the opposition to

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, including the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...

, led by

Santiago Carrillo Santiago José Carrillo Solares (18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (main), Communist Party of Spain (PCE) from 1960 to 1982. His role in the Paracu ...

, and independent personalities linked to Don Juan de Borbón, led by

Rafael Calvo Serer Rafael Calvo Serer (born 6 October 1916 at Valencia, Spain, died 19 April 1988 at Pamplona, Navarra, Spain) was a Professor of History of Spanish Philosophy, a writer, essayist. He was president of the Council of Administration of the newspaper ''M ...

. The JDE was officially launched on July 29, 1974 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

. Subsequently the

Party of Labour of Spain Communist Party of Spain (international) (in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Partido Comunista de España (internacional)''), was a Communism, communist political party in Spain. History The PTE was formed around 1967, following a split from the ...

(PTE), the

Carlist Party The Carlist Party ( es, Partido Carlista, ca, Partit Carlí, eu, Karlista Alderdia, gl, Partido Carlista, ast, Partíu Carlista; PC) is a Spanish political party that considers itself as a successor to the historical tradition of Carlism. ...

led by Carlos Hugo de Borbón Parma, the Popular Socialist Party (PSP) led by

Enrique Tierno Galván Enrique Tierno Galván (Madrid, 8 February 1918 – Madrid, 19 January 1986) was a Spanish politician, sociologist, lawyer and essayist, best known for being the Mayor of Madrid from 1979 to 1986, at the beginning of the new period of Spanish de ...

and Raul Morodo, the Socialist Alliance of Andalusia, the union

Comisiones Obreras The Workers' Commissions ( es, Comisiones Obreras, CCOO) since the 1970s has become the largest trade union in Spain. It has more than one million members, and is the most successful union in labor elections, competing with the Unión General de ...

, the Association Justicia Democrática and a number of independent figures such as José Vidal Beneyto and aristocrat

José Luis de Vilallonga José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

joined the Junta.De los Cobos Arteaga,Francisco et al. La inseguridad ciudadana de la transición a una sociedad democrática: España (1977-1989). Albacete: Univ de Castilla La Mancha, 1999.
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The 12 points

The twelve points of the program of the Democratic Junta of Spain, written by Antonio García-Trevijano, were the following: 1. The formation of an interim government to replace the current one, to return to the Spanish man and women, aged eighteen, their full citizenship through the legal recognition of all freedoms, democratic rights and duties.
2. The absolute amnesty for all the responsibilities for acts of a political nature and the immediate release of all the political prisoners.
3. The legalization of political parties, without exclusions.
4. Freedom of association and returning to the labor unions the heritage of the "vertical union".
5. The rights of strike, assembly and peaceful protest.
6. Freedom of the press, radio, opinion and objective information of state media, especially television.
7. Judicial independence and unity of the judicial function.
8. The armed forces must be politically neutral, professional and exclusively used for external defense.
9. The recognition under the Spanish unit of the state, of the political personality of the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

and Galician peoples.
10. The

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

.
11. Holding a referendum to choose the final form of the State, either a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

or a

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

.
12. The integration of Spain in the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...

, the respect of all the international agreements and the recognition of the principle of international peaceful coexistence.

''Platajunta''

In 1976 the JDE formed a common front with the

Democratic Convergence Platform The Democratic Convergence Platform ( es, Plataforma de Convergencia Democrática, PCD) was a Spanish organization that coordinated various pro-democracy parties, unions and associations (all illegal) towards the end of Francoist Spain. History O ...

, finally merging the two platforms in 1976. The merge was called Democratic Convergence, also known as the "Platajunta".

References

* Ortuño Anaya, Pilar, ''Los socialistas europeos y la transición española (1959-1977)'', Madrid, Marcial Pons, 2005, {{Authority control Defunct political parties in Spain Political parties established in 1974 Political parties disestablished in 1976 Anti-Francoism Spanish transition to democracy 1976 disestablishments in Spain